


Age Of Magneto

by CanuckleheadCowgirl, magnetocerebro



Series: 240 Universe [1]
Category: Avengers, Marvel Comics, OC - Fandom, X-Men, comics - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-05-16 19:07:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 67
Words: 283,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14817164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanuckleheadCowgirl/pseuds/CanuckleheadCowgirl, https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnetocerebro/pseuds/magnetocerebro
Summary: Magneto has had just about enough of Xavier and his 'students', but when he decides to seek out an overabundance of adamantium, he doesn't find Wolverine.





	1. Finder's Keepers

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I know you were wondering when I'd finish editing the 906 series, but ... this little thing took my attention a while ago, and while I've been thoroughly enjoying a few other universes ... (714, 867, 906, 907, 495, 664 ...) not to mention the Avengers/Hunger Games/DCU crossover with The Freelancer Collaboration ... Yeah, I went and did this one too.
> 
> So again ... this is a character experiment of an AU with an OC ... This was something that made me wonder for a long time ... I wrote K (906 and others) as one that more or less just fell into step with Xavier and his crew and his dream ... but ... Xavier isn't the ONLY option. This is how I saw it going down if she'd gone to Magneto instead ... though as you'll see, it wasn't a smooth transition from the word 'go'.
> 
> A word of warning: YES, many of these characters aren't going to line up with their ages as you know them in the comics. This is in the somewhat earlier days, so a lot of the tech isn't up to bleeding edge standards by any stretch of the imagination. The X-Men lineup here is sketchy, so just ... ignore what you know about early X-Men outside of general personifications. The line up is NOT the same because I need to tweak ages. Try to enjoy it for what it is, please don't try to guess where this is going because it's already written, I'm just ... finally putting it out there. No requests. No hints. Just enjoy.

He needed to send a message to that ridiculous group, and of the options available, the most attractive was to make an example of Charles' little beast. There was no reason for him to be in that little band of star-eyed children in the first place, and he had never been anywhere close to reasonable.

And this, of course, made him the perfect option to get those stars out of Charles' disciples' eyes, make them see the reality of their situation.

With a scowl, he reached out, searching for an unreasonable amount of adamantium concentrated in one place. He wasn't surprised in the least when he found himself drawn toward a Weapon X facility in the most inhospitable reaches of northern Canada - he smirked to himself as he thought it through.  _Two birds with one stone. These humans will find no solace in their crimes - and no protection from the elements either._

He tore through the building, crumbling walls and destroying anything and anyone that was in his way, but when he got to the cells, he found himself taking pause. There was a familiar signature of metal - of a quantity that he was sure could only be Charles' little pet, Wolverine …

He was prepared to deal with him right there … make an example of the beast ...but he was absolutely surprised when he pulled the adamantium closer and found that it wasn't Logan, but a small, furious dark haired young woman with striking features … not to mention - the same claws that Logan had.

"Who are you?" he asked, glancing from the naked woman to the various tubes with floating fetuses and children.

But it appeared as though the woman couldn't talk - at least … not with all of the devices she had attached to her. Erik narrowed his eyes and with a slight twist of his wrist, the collar and all of the wires were plucked from her, leaving her totally frozen as Erik held her aloft. "Now. Who are you?" he asked again, his gaze locked onto her.

"I …" she swallowed hard and started to say something before she stopped and closed her eyes tightly. "I can't …"

"They conditioned you not to use your name," Erik surmised, looking more angry still as the little woman nodded minutely. "Then what do they call you, my dear?"

"K."

"Well then, K … if I set you down, what would you do?"

She paused, clearly concerned that it was a test. "I'd kill as many of them as I could," K said with almost a waver to her voice.

"Then I'll see you when you're finished," Erik said before he gently set her down and watched her turn tail to run toward the nearest soldier.

He floated a safe distance behind her - stopping any bullets that came his way as he watched the little woman destroy one group of men after another - pound for pound every bit as vicious as Wolverine - or moreso. When she was finally worn out, Erik caught her before she could fall - letting his magnetic field cradle her. "Would you care to join me in ending these shortsighted fools?"

K paused and with a flourish, Erik removed his cape and draped it over her shoulders so she could at least cover herself from the cold as he took her out of the facility, crushing it with it's own structure on the way out. By the time they'd returned to Erik's space bound haven, the woman was wiped out.

Over the next several days, he peeked into the room he'd arranged for her - always to see her simply sleeping - in nearly the same position. He wondered vaguely if this was normal for someone of her mutation, but then simply waved it off as exhaustion and relief at being out of the hands of her oppressor.

He was to be notified, of course, as soon as she woke up. In the meantime, he had a war to fight, and he had no time to waste.

When the little woman finally did wake up, Erik's people were sure to provide her with all that she required and notified him. When he found her, she was staring out of a window that overlooked the earth - the curvature plain to see - and stars beyond that. "Where are we?" she asked quietly long before Erik allowed his feet to touch the floor.

"Avalon," Erik replied. "It's my mutant sanctuary, and I'd like very much like for you to join our fight."

She nodded and he gestured for her to follow him. He wasted no time telling her his outlook on the world, and what he thought of the people trying to use mutants. Of course, telling her these things while she had no viable method of escape set the tone for how things were expected to be. But even with that in mind, it really didn't take much for him to convince her - and he hadn't expected that it would- before the pretty young feral agreed to join his fight.

He was tickled, of course. Pietro had done all of the reconnaissance at the facility he'd found her at as he destroyed it. And though his speedster son was concerned with the similarities with a certain X-Man, but Erik could finally see the usefulness.

If what was in the files was accurate, then this little woman knew all of the combat techniques and spy methods that Wolverine did - in what so far, was a much more agreeable package. He was sure that she was of the proper mindset or that she would soon be. She was still impressionable after her rescue, after all and Erik could see it. The fact that she hadn't been able to make her own choices for so long … and the fact that she was unable to even say her own name without fear … Erik knew his window wouldn't stay open for long, and he was sure to carefully press his advantage. To earn her trust and loyalty before someone else did.

"Please," Erik said as he gently put his arm across her shoulders. "Tell me about yourself."

* * *

It was only a few weeks after Erik had finally felt secure in getting K's loyalty that it was time for the his semi yearly chess match with Charles. It was the perfect opportunity to test the girl on where exactly she stood, so he chose to bring her along as his second against all of Pietro's protests. Of course, when they arrived, he was sure not to tell the X-Men what the girl was capable of - and was just as careful to tell her to keep it to herself. "Charles is an old friend," he told her as they came closer to the mansion in Westchester. "But he thinks that the people that had imprisoned you can be taught to live peacefully with our kind."

K frowned at that, and gave Erik a look that clearly read how stupid that idea sounded to her before he continued. "The purpose of these chess games has been to try and gently show him the error of his ways, so please, observe."

"Your friend is a telepath though," K said, watching him before they started toward the front door.

"He is, but he has an odd code. If you can sense him trying to reach into your thoughts - he'll stop if you make it known you caught him."

K nodded her head, keeping that in mind as the door opened even before they could knock. Cyclops paused on seeing the new face, the slight hesitation obvious.

"Considering that you were expecting me, you don't look prepared," Erik said with a smirk as he watched Scott's reaction.

Scott straightened slightly and shook his head. "I was just expecting you." He smiled lightly at K in an obvious attempt to maintain a polite introduction as he held out his hand. "Cyclops."

She looked him up and down openly then very delicately took the offered hand without returning the favor of her name. Which only had Erik smiling to himself as he led the way in.

As luck would have it, Erik was sure that Cyclops was properly wary of the girl, and incredibly uncomfortable when instead of answering any of his polite and reasonable questions, K simply ignored him or answered him with a simple raised eyebrow look that questioned his sanity.

To Erik's delight, it was clear that Charles couldn't read her well- and he was trying. But K remained stoic and aloof to anyone that they came across.

"Professor … " Scott said, really only drawing Erik and Charles' attention to himself while K seemed totally focused on the pieces on the chessboard. The bald wheelchair bound man gave him a look that spoke volumes and with a nod, Charles looked up at K.

"My dear, would you mind terribly if Erik and I had a private word?" Charles asked in a warm, kind tone.

K's gaze flicked up to meet his from the chessboard before she drew in a slow, easy breath and simply rose to her feet without looking Erik's way - almost defiantly showing them that she didn't need permission to go wherever she pleased. As soon as the door shut behind her and Scott, Charles met Erik with a hard glare.

"Where did you find her?" Charles asked at almost a hiss. "You destroyed that base in the arctic, didn't you?"

"What's wrong, old friend? Does it bother you that much to come across a mutant that you can't so easily sift through?"

"Erik … I could see enough to know what she is. You  _cannot_ lie to her."

"I haven't," Erik replied simply. "And I don't plan to.  _This_ one believes in the cause, not your naive dream."

"Have you threatened her?"

"I didn't need to. She chose to join me."

"And should she change her mind, and want to leave?"

"Then she is free to do so."

* * *

Outside of Charles' office, Scott wasted little time in trying to get the young woman to hear him out, but before he could get too far into his well rehearsed and earnest speech, K raised a hand to cut him off.

"I'm not interested," she said, the first words out of her mouth since stepping into the mansion.

"You haven't let me explain."

"And you haven't been tortured and threatened with rape by humans wanting to dominate you. I'm  _not_ interested."

Scott let out a breath and tried a different angle. "You're not the only one who's been through the wringer. I don't think anyone in our group has come this far without someone using or abusing them."

K let her expression soften as she looked up at him. "Is this the part where we're supposed to hug, and I cry, and you tell me how your uncle touched you?"

Scott was clearly taken off guard and had no idea how to reply to her, even as she arched one perfect eyebrow and waited for his response. "I…" He shook his head. "I just meant you shouldn't let the bad things people do wash out any chance of peace."

"Yeah, that's not what's going on here."

Scott turned her way and let out a breath. "It is."

"Okay," she said with a little shrug as she took a seat nearby - perfectly content and acting almost as if she owned the place. "Are you going to stand there and gape all afternoon or are you going to have a seat and babysit me properly?"

Scott stared at her for a second longer before she could actually see the shift in body language as he simply sat down across from her, arms crossed.

K smirked to herself and sat back in her chair, sure that the young man wasn't going to even attempt to engage her in conversation again.

* * *

When Erik finally left with his new … friend … it didn't take long for Scott to turn towards Charles looking frustrated at how the afternoon had gone.

"I know you're trying, professor, but I think he purposefully collects people who don't listen to …  _anything_ like reason," Scott said, shaking his head as he sat down.

Charles let out a weary sigh. "We don't know the circumstances in which he found her," he said as patiently as he could, though he was certainly feeling the same way.

Scott shook his head. "She told me," he said. "Apparently, he found her in some place torturing her, threatening rape, even… I tried to tell her most of us here have gotten flack too, but…" He gestured broadly.

"You did what you could with what you had to work with," Charles said with an encouraging sort of smirk. "It's simply hard to know where to start in a case like hers - especially when we don't know what Erik has promised her."

Scott let out a breath of frustration. "Were you able to learn anything, then?" he asked. "All I got was a complete shutdown and glare Logan would have loved to see."

Charles let out a dry chuckle. "Actually, she caught me."

Scott's eyebrows shot up, and he leaned forward. "So you didn't get anything?"

"Only that she has an intense distrust of telepaths." Charles let out a sigh. "She'll be hard to turn."

"Especially if she's going to immediately distrust two of our heaviest hitters," Scott pointed out. "You and Jean … you two are better at this than any of us."

"I think your measure is a bit off, Scott," Charles said. "But I appreciate the confidence." He shook his head as the two of them headed down the hall. "We'll just have to find out more about her before we try to reason with her." He let out a breath when they met up with Jean, too. "I believe that Erik found her near the arctic. There was a facility that was reduced to rubble not a month ago - and it certainly bears his marks. Perhaps you two can look into what was being done there and who, if any prisoners were being held there."

"Absolutely," Scott agreed with a nod, even as Jean reached out to him to get an idea of what exactly had him so clearly ready to  _go_.

"Do you need anything from me?" Jean asked Scott, tipping her head slightly to the side as he headed out.

Scott paused and then took a second to give her a smile at the corner of his mouth. "Just a little company while we look into this mess," he said.

She smirked crookedly at him and made her way over to take his arm and lean on his shoulder a little. "Good. Extra Eyes are always good."


	2. What Did You Say Your Name Was?

Erik had pulled together a massive rally - and droves of mutants had shown up … though the people he was relying on for back up weren't lined up on the stage with him.  _Someone_ had pointed out that showcasing your heavy hitters all in one spot was a pretty weak strategy if something actually went wrong, so instead, Erik was center stage with Wanda while the others in his slowly growing inner circle were dispersed around the crowd watching for trouble.

Interestingly enough, K was more on the outskirts - and she wasn't wearing a uniform. And that was something Bobby picked up when he saw her and all but skated over - not very subtly - to grin her way. "Decided you didn't like their color scheme?" he asked, still with a wide grin on.

"I'm not really one to beg for attention," she said, giving him a quick once over. "Subtle."

Bobby smirked and gestured down at himself. "Hey, me? I look good. I look good in anything, mind you, but not everyone can pull it off."

"True story," she agreed, her focus on the crowd around them. "As long as you're happy with it."

"And I am," Bobby agreed. He stuck his hand out. "So. I'm Iceman, and I gotta say, I'm a real fan of anyone who gets Cyke to make that 'the world is unfair' face."

She pushed herself off of the tree she was leaning on to shake his hand. "So that's the thing? Everyone goes by clown names? I thought it was just his crew," K said tipping her head toward the stage.

Bobby blinked at her and then shook his head, making a perfectly-shaped ice crystal and holding it out to her. "It  _fits_. Come on. Tell me I don't have the best codename. At least it's not  _Cyclops_ or  _The Blob_."

"Oh, it absolutely fits," she agreed. "But your mother probably spent months deciding to nickname you Bobby. You should use it."

Bobby stopped. "I… definitely did not tell you my name, Fashion Snob Woman…."

"Would you prefer Rob, or …"

"Oh god no," Bobby said. "Where-" He shook his head. "Magneto, right?"

She gently shook her head at that, holding his gaze. "He prefers everyone to use their 'mutant' names. Whatever that means."

"I mean, we go by our real names back home but … where… how did…"

She gave him a glance over her shoulder and simply started to walk along the edge of the crowd. "Are you here to stop something in particular or …"

"We're just trying to make sure it doesn't turn, y'know… violent. Which it tends to do," Bobby said, trying to get it back as he shook his head.

"Erik is handling any sentinels that try to come close," K said. "Everyone else here seems interested in his spiel."

"Right, but that's… kind of what tends to lead to violence," Bobby pointed out.

She let out a little 'hmm' and found another more shady tree to stand under. "This is my first one."

"The last one I was at? The mob mentality was  _thick_. Just about got stampeded trying to stop a beat-down of some humans at a mall," Bobby told her frankly. "Not pretty."

"How did it start?" she asked.

"Welllll…." Bobby let out a sigh. "If you want the truth, idiot teenage boys calling a mob full of mutants 'freaks' was definitely not helpful."

"Sounds like it was an attempted case of Darwinism."

Bobby shook his head. "Yeah, okay, listen, if we're gonna beat down every idiot teenager in the world, we'll be real busy? And also, according to Beast, I'd be dead fifty times over…"

"Does he prefer Henry or Hank?" she asked.

"You're … really not … you gotta stop doing that," Bobby said, glancing over both shoulders.

"I'm just asking so that whenever it is I run into him, I'm not overly rude," she said, smirking to herself.

"Okay, but you understand they're called 'secret identities' for a reason, right? There's, like, real reasons for protecting - you're not supposed to just - you can't drop that on me, man!"

"It's not like your names are all that uncommon," she said. "And I'm not adding middle or last names, so why are you so  _uptight_? Not like you're carrying a handle like 'Logan'."

Bobby stared at her, obviously not even close to sure how to respond to that. "How…"

She turned his way with her eyebrows raised, looking as if this was a perfectly reasonable question, but before either of them could say anything else, as Bobby had predicted, something across the crowd started to go south. "They're playing your song," she said, tipping her chin toward the commotion.

"Aww crap," Bobby said before he iced up quickly and headed into the fray - and if he was honest, it was a nice distraction from wondering how the heck this new girl had so much information on him and his friends.

Almost as if history was repeating itself, it was a handful of overly stupid young men that had started shouting obscenities at the gathered group of mutants, and though Magneto had been careful  _not_ to direct them, the crowd had turned on the men, and they were facing a very nasty beat down at the hands of several interesting abilities.

The ground at their feet turned to muck and the group began to sink, though the mutant that was responsible wasn't as controlled as they could have been and much of the mob was sinking with them.

As the panic grew, so did the soft spot in the ground, and K made her way over to the scaffolding at the stage to find higher ground. Erik and Wanda were levitating - watching with interest close to the disturbance, but instead of helping or even considering to direct the crowd to help the mob get out of the muck even, he was looking for who it was that had done it to recruit them to his cause.

The X-Men were, however, working hard to get everyone out of the mess - and to safety, though the young man that was the center of the soft ground was panicking more, and before all of them could get clear, most of the park was going into the earth, including the structures around them. As more people sought out high ground, the scaffolding was overwhelmed, and when it crumpled on one side suddenly, K lost her grip.

She was fully expecting to hit the soft earth - or the small group of bodies under her, and K sucked in a quick breath to prepare herself for that … only to realize that she hadn't fallen more than halfway to the ground. Only there was no magnetic pull that indicated Erik stepping in - and she knew she hadn't hit anything … but she was still floating, and that in itself had her much more anxious than she'd been when she thought she was falling.

When she had twisted around a bit, she finally saw the source - a redhead with a soft smile on as she guided K to the ground. "Are you alright?" Jean asked.

"What the  _hell_ did you do that for?" K snarled, stepping back a few paces as she tried to put distance between herself and the red-head.

Jean's eyes widened, and she held up her hands in a conciliatory gesture. "You were falling - I didn't want to see you hurt," she explained.

K paused, though it was clear she didn't trust her at all. "I thought you were saving the idiots that caused this mess." She brushed off her hands on her jeans. "I was  _fine._ "

"That was a thirty-foot fall," Jean said. "And our goal is to save everyone, if we can. I wasn't going to let you get hurt -  _or die_  - just because you agree with Magneto!" she added, her expression more earnest now at the thought.

K frowned at her and took another step back, raising one hand her way as she pointed at Jean. "Keep out of my head. And keep closer tabs on your boyfriend." She tipped her head toward Scott - who was duking it out with Quicksilver and Toad, who were managing to box him closer to where the Blob was waiting to cream him.

For just a moment, Jean almost told her that she hadn't even been looking in her thoughts when she had caught her - but when she saw the team up against Scott, she switched gears entirely, catching Quicksilver telekinetically to lift him off the ground and keep him from running.

It was exactly what Scott needed to hit both villains with a beam strong enough to knock them out -and  _back_ several dozen yards, though by that time, the energy of the crowd had started to ebb and they were doing a much better job of helping each other out of the mess. The mouthy humans were long gone, and by the time the X-Men regrouped, Magneto and his crew were gone as well. Leaving them with the clean up, as always.

"Everyone alright?" Scott asked. "Any trouble with Magneto's idiots?"

"Before or after the fight broke out?" Bobby put in. "Because… yes on both counts."

"What happened?" Scott asked as the group headed to the blackbird.

"Well, you know that new girl?" Bobby asked. "The one that wasn't even wearing a uniform?"

"What about her?" Scott asked in a tone that said he was sure something awful was coming.

"Well, I tried talking to her, and she just started  _casually_ dropping all of our first names in conversation?" Bobby said, looking wide-eyed.

"What."

"Yeah… that's what I said," Bobby said, gesturing to Scott's changed body language and almost livid expression. "Except with words."

Scott narrowed his eyes behind the glasses before he shook his head. "She probably got it from Magneto. Trying to throw you off-"

"Uh, no," Bobby said. "She did her own research on this, apparently."

Scott turned to face him fully, and Bobby could see the familiar locked-jaw expression that meant he was not happy about that at all. "I want to know how she got in," he said, already heading back to the blackbird. "And what else she knows."

* * *

When they got back to the mansion, Scott made a beeline right for the archives. He knew there wasn't anywhere else that anyone could even begin to access that kind of information - short of maybe SHIELD, but SHIELD's secret servers were on the helicarrier, and no one had been able to get into Nick Fury's nightmare of a flying war ship.

He put in his security codes, went through all the scans … and once he was inside, swore outright when the only sign that anything was amiss was a post-it note with a berry-red lipstick kiss stuck to the lone screen.

He narrowed his eyes at that. It was almost like a signed confession, really, and more than that, it was  _smug_. It was really just further proof to his mind that Magneto seemed to find mutants that were exactly the opposite of what he and the X-Men were trying to show as the norm for mutantkind.

The good thing about it was that he'd be able to pinpoint the  _when_ and from there, he should be able to get the surveillance to show the how. He was just about to leave the room when he spotted something else she'd left behind, but he didn't pick it up. The lipstick tube was next to the server, and for as careful as K had been not to trip anything getting into the server, there was still a chance that they could get prints off of the tube.

He'd let Jean handle the tube - she wouldn't need to bother with gloves when she could just lift it telekinetically - but for as much as he was hung up on the security breach, he didn't even need to reach out to Jean before she had arrived, frowning at him as she picked up on his frustration as well as his honest worry about what else K could get for Magneto if she could get into their servers so easily.

"Why would she leave that behind?" Jean asked, frowning at the lipstick tube.

"To let us know it was her," Scott said.

"I'm sure the lip print was enough for that," Jean said.

"I don't know, Jean," Scott said. "She's not the type of person to leave it on accident. If she got that far without being detected, she's not going to leave anything behind unless she wanted us to find it."

"She panicked earlier," Jean told him. "Right before she tipped me off that you needed backup."

Scott frowned and turned her way. "Panicked how?"

"Panicked as in projected out pure fear when I caught her from falling."

"Scared of heights or scared of you?" Scott asked, his eyes narrowed as he thought it over. "She made it pretty clear she doesn't like telepaths…"

"I don't think it was heights," Jean said. "But she didn't make a rush or anything like that."

"And then she sent you after me…" Scott shook his head. "That doesn't track. She could have let the Blob take me out. That's her team."

"It didn't make a lot of sense to me either," Jean said. "Maybe Bobby left something out?"

"Beyond the fact that she knows all our names and is spying on us?"

"I don't know, Scott. I'm just trying to find connections."

Scott let his shoulders drop slightly and then nodded before he kissed her cheek. "Yeah. Well, the more we learn about her, the better we'll be able to stop her from getting in again. Let's see what we can pull from what she  _did_ leave, right?"

"Sounds like a plan, oh, fearless leader," she teased before she stole a quick kiss.

* * *

But Scott was more than a little frustrated when the search into K's fingerprints came back not only with a big fat nothing, but a ping from SHIELD. Not only did it not give Scott any identity to go on, but now, it was clear that SHIELD was keeping tabs on her too, close enough that Scott's own curiosity had him our their radar again.

Which, he supposed, was something in and of itself, even if it left him with more questions than answers.

It still left him with a blank slate, more or less, especially since Magneto had been sure to crush the place where he'd found K so that there wasn't anything recoverable there either, outside of enough medical equipment to know there was some kind of lab setup. Though that was sadly common enough with mutants that, again, it really didn't tell him anything.

The surveillance wasn't much better either. She'd managed to avoid most of the cameras, and the few that she didn't, really didn't show much other than the fact that she'd had her hair pulled back into a braid and she was wearing a black bodysuit. Though at the end of the surveillance, she did pause and look up at the camera before she disappeared off the screen. He never did see how exactly she'd gotten inside, just that on one screen she'd show up - and on others she didn't. Which meant she knew how to avoid cameras if she wanted to.

And that in itself was not encouraging to see from someone working so closely with Magneto. Scott wasn't particularly thrilled with the idea of Magneto having access to their servers - not just their personal information but their tactical information.

He'd ask Forge and Hank to take a look at their servers and see what they could do about keeping this woman out.


	3. You Don't Understand ...

It was just a matter of time before Erik and Charles' groups crossed paths again, though this time, it was at a facility that Erik had gone to with his followers to dismantle and free the mutants inside. Where Scott was trying to capture the scientists so they could be brought to justice … K was simply murdering them. He didn't waste any time once Jean confirmed what K was up to by the telepathic and actual screaming the scientists were doing before he sent Logan in to stop her.

Meanwhile, K didn't want to hear any of the X-Men's 'reasoning' on why these monsters should live … and she sure as hell meant it when she told Erik she'd kill as many of these idiots as she could. She never did say it applied only to the one facility. But in spite of her natural talents … and her claws, she was making sure that the scientists around her that had been experimenting on people were dying via their own means.

Which was how Logan found her - jamming an unnecessarily large syringe into one doctor's heart and growling low as she gave him whatever it was in the needle. That doctor was dead - or as good as, so instead of giving her a chance to get to another one, he popped the claws on one hand and neatly slashed the two scientists trying to leave - dropping both of them before he charged toward her to tackle her and make her  _stop._

"You wanna kill 'em I won't stop you, but you don't need to torture them too," Logan said, before he mentally reached out to find out from Jean if they were trying to bring her in or put her down.

He certainly wasn't expecting K to counter attack, and halfway through his projected question, his entire train of thought went red, leaving Jean wondering what exactly was happening in the labs.

By the time Remy got to Logan's position, he and K were in an all out brawl - growls and snarls were rippling through the air and the two of them were positively tearing into each other - claws on both sides. It was clear that neither of them were without some nasty hits, but at least they weren't entirely gone into a fully feral break. Not judging by  _how_ they were hurting each other anyhow.

Logan's typical strategy was to slash and stab … K's seemed to be to  _let_ him take a swing then pop her claws under his outstretched arm before he could get out of the momentum. But she wasn't slashing … it was simply pop and twist … pop and twist, leaving Logan with a lot  _deeper_ cuts than he was giving her.

But even so, it was only a matter of time before Logan overpowered her, and when she caught her claws in his ribs, that's exactly what happened. He grabbed her wrist before she could pull it back and after he cracked her in the face hard, he pinned her down. She only struggled for a few moments before Jean felt a wave of total and complete panic rolling off of her. The woman was nearly hyperventilating as she tried to find a way to toss Logan and get away from them.

Both Logan and K were bloodied, but the scents in the lab on top of her own blood had K biting back a scream in spite of how hard Logan was trying to get her to relax and breathe. He knew it was likely a lost cause at that moment ... especially when Remy slipped over with a pair of cuffs.

She was in a full-blown panic attack when Jean arrived, so much so that Jean simply reached out and knocked her out telepathically, frowning hard not only at the two men, but the room at large. "What happened…?" She looked around at the bloody mess around them.

Logan let out a breath as Remy cuffed their newest captive. "She was torturing scientists." He gestured to the last doctor she'd gotten a hold of - and it was clear that the needle she'd used was still stuck in the guy.

Jean's frown only deepened at that. "There was a lab setup in the facility where Magneto found her," she said, though she was already telekinetically carrying K out.

They moved to get K onto the blackbird, though considering the wide berth that Bobby gave K even unconscious and the fact that Scott's jaw was not coming unlocked, it was already obvious K had left an impression on the group as a whole even as they took her into custody.

It wasn't until they were in the air that the questions started up among the team, either, and both Logan and Remy were stuck trying to answer them. "She wasn't even questioning them," Logan said. "That was just payback."

Bobby's eyebrows were almost scraping his hairline, and he let out a low whistle. "She's not messing around."

"Don't know what made you think she would," Logan grumbled, frustrated as he looked over the damage he'd walked out with. "She's a nasty piece of work."

"She's a piece of work that's been in our server room," Scott said. "I don't like the idea that she can get into the mansion with that kind of… outlook."

"What do you wanna do with her, Slim?" Logan asked, looking more irritated. "Hand her over to SHIELD? As if they wouldn't pick her apart to find out what she knows …"

"SHIELD already has an interest in her," Scott admitted. "And I still want to know more about her myself. Like how she got past our security."

"Or how she whooped up on our Wolverine," Remy said in a teasing tone.

"No, no, that part I get," Bobby said. "Small girl, pretty face…. Totally beserk…"

"She de one wit' all the slashed up clothes ... " Remy agreed.

Bobby gestured to Remy grandly. "Ex-actly."

"You're both idiots," Logan growled out.

"He does have a point," Jean said gently, then held up a hand. "Not about her looks. I meant - she is trained." She gestured at Logan's own torn clothes. "We haven't been able to find much, but it wasn't  _just_ a lab that she escaped with Magneto."

Logan watched her for a moment then let out a chuff of air. "Alright, Jeannie. You been pokin' around in her head … you better spill what you know."

Jean let out a breath and took a moment to reorganize her thoughts before she simply projected to them much of what she'd seen in scanning through K's mind. It wasn't that she didn't want to just say it - it was more that she thought Logan might be able to identify some of the less savory characters that had worked her over.

And while some of them were known criminals that had been under Weapon X's employment … many weren't any faces that Scott or Jean could place, though from the thoughtful expression on Logan's face, he obviously had a much better understanding of what was going on.

"Logan…" Scott said, catching on that he was obviously thinking it all through, but of course, Logan shook his head and didn't say a word, not yet ready to give his insights.

At that, Scott only frowned deeper and turned back to the controls of the blackbird. It was clear that every single one of them had questions, and no one was happy about just how dangerous this new member of Magneto's team was.

* * *

When K woke up in the holding cell of the X-Mansion - freshly washed up and in soft, warm clothes, she positively skittered away from the door, crouching in the corner, tucked into a ball in a panic before she even really took stock of where she was. She wasn't sure what had happened. The last thing she could remember was Logan holding her down - and losing her grip on fighting him at all when the cajun showed up with a pair of cuffs.

She couldn't remember getting hit by any needles - and from everything she'd read about the X-Men both in intelligence files and her own research, she didn't think that was what had happened anyhow. But … the redhead was known to knock people unconscious with a thought if she had an opening… and Xavier's favorite trick was to 'pause' entire buildings full of people if they irritated him or tried to capture him.

Again, she was very, very sure that a telepath was to blame here. The cell itself looked pretty solid. Not that it meant much. She'd gotten out of plenty like this before. And if she could get out before they came to check on her, even better.

Of course, K had no idea what time of day it was, how long she'd been out … or where in the mansion she was. And all of that would have heavy bearing on where she could go, and what paths in and out she could make use of once she did get moving.

K was just preparing to give it a shot … when a famously blue doctor walked in with a serious but pleasant smile, and that at least had her pulling up a bit of her usual sass. "Hello, Henry," K said.

"I prefer Hank, actually."

"I'll keep that in mind, Henry."

Hank nodded, that same smile still in place. "I do appreciate you taking my own taste into the matter," he said before he sat down across from her. "You have most of my friends in knots wondering what to do about you, Ms. K. We certainly can't in good conscience give you to SHIELD when all appearances are that they would use you to their own ends."

"Accurate to a fault," she agreed. "So what's your big plan for me then?"

"I believe that depends entirely on you," Hank told her.

"Yeah, I've never heard  _that_ before."

Hank let out a breath and gave her a tired smile. "It's quite the conundrum, isn't it?" he said. "Trying to determine how to approach a woman who has proven she can be a great threat - but who has also given a nod in our direction. Don't think we take for granted that you have helped us - or, should I say, Scott and Jean," he added, this time with a twinkle in his eye.

"Outside of my current affiliation, what makes you think I'm a threat?"

"For one thing, your infiltration of our personal information - and your penchant, to be frank, for torture," Hank told her honestly.

"Both of those things were entirely out of a personal interest."

"A personal interest could describe everyone we have met who wishes us harm," Hank pointed out.

"If I wished you harm, then I wouldn't have just gone through your files," she pointed out.

"No, you would not," Hank said, his head tipped to the side. "And so, here we are. You're not quite an enemy to us - but we don't take torture lightly either."

"You've heard of an eye for an eye, right? Well … in some cases it applies."

"And you've heard that your philosophy leaves the whole world blind, I'm sure."

"Only if you believe the whole world to be assholes," she countered.

Hank had to chuckle at that. "Believe me, I don't ascribe to that pessimistic of a philosophy," he said. "But I hold myself to a higher standard - and think the rest of the world should as well. Obviously, not everyone does."

"Good luck with that, then," she said.

"And you?" Hank asked. "What is your philosophy. You obviously don't ascribe entirely to a scorched earth philosophy, but you believe in an eye for an eye…"

"Only in some cases," she admitted. "And those people … they earned it."

Hank was quiet for a moment, and both of them seemed to take the time to study each other before, finally, he said, "To be honest, K, we don't know what to make of you. I know that's not the answer you would like to hear. No one likes to be told that there is no answer."

"I'm not surprised by it," she replied. "That seems to be the general consensus with anyone that can't predict what I'll do next."

"Then perhaps we can start by simply getting to know one another," Hank suggested. "Fear is, I have found, much less powerful in the face of knowledge."

She couldn't help but smirk at that. "Well Henry, I like long walks in a new-moon lit forest, vodka in my lemonade, and quiet. How about you?"

Hank once more found himself chuckling at the answer. "I prefer to spend by time with the Bard, and I am partial to confections and candy."

"You struck me as a sweet-white wine type," she said.

He smiled a little more at that. "When I get the chance to unwind, yes," he said. "Do you like to read as well, or are you more a woman of action, then?"

"Yes," she replied, smirking a little wider.

"I'll take that to mean both," Hank said. "I have an excellent library, if you'd like something to pass the time while we try to address our mutual curiosity and distrust."

"Do you have anything by James Oliver Curwood?"

"I'm afraid not, but if you recommend him, I may just find his works. I find that the best windows to a person's soul are often in their favorite books," Hank said with a smile.

" _The River's End_ , is a good one. That and  _The Grizzly King_." She returned the smile and leaned her head back to rest against the wall. "Enjoy."

Hank smiled and got to his feet. "In the meantime, I don't suppose you would settle for something I do have in my library?"

"Thoreau would be lovely," she said.

"I thought as much," he said with a twinkle in his eye before he let himself out, leaving K with her thoughts - though true to his word, she didn't have to wait long before she did have several books, all in that same genre.

K took her time to flip through the books, not surprised at his selections after their chat - or the hints she gave him. She wondered how much he'd look into the author himself and not the settings of the stories, and that on its own had her smirking a little wider. It also had given her ample opportunity to see exactly how the doors opened, and which direction that Hank had left. It also seemed like it was a good marker of what time of day it was, so … she gave it a little more time before she started her little plan in place.

It wasn't terribly hard. Not when she knew half of the story anyhow … and with a little work, she convinced the locking system to let loose the door. She only paused for a moment to listen and see if there was an alarm going off nearby - there was no way there wasn't an alarm somewhere - and then she took off running, ready to fight her way out if need be.

She wasn't overly surprised to see that Hank wasn't in his lab when she got to it - down the hall from the cell they'd had her in, but when she stepped out of the lab, the hall was lit with a red light that she knew meant lock down. It always meant a lock down. Again, she listened hard, her ears tipped toward the stairs … where the sounds of stomping feet was echoing down the stairwell. That wasn't going to be very helpful.

She paused, trying to figure out the best way out, seeing as they were coming down her chosen exit. Even attempting the elevator would be locking herself in a box … unless of course … there was another way to twist that around in her favor.

K rushed to the elevator and wasn't surprised at all to find that the doors didn't want to respond to the button command, so she stuck a claw between the doors and started to pry them apart. When she finally got the door open, the elevator was there - but clearly powered down. "Okay, that … will work I suppose," she muttered before she slipped inside and of course, the doors snapped shut.

She looked up, sure that it would simply be a matter of time before someone informed her that she was trapped, so she took the initiative to yank the camera out of the corner before she climbed the walls up the corner of the elevator to where the access panel was, then popped that out of the way and climbed on the top of it. She carefully placed the panel back where it was then started climbing the cables, stopping only at the floor directly above the labs - not going all the way to the top where it opened at the main floor of the mansion.

The X-Men were likely looking for her in either the main floor or the labs, after all. So she wouldn't be  _there._  When she got to the doors, she did the same little move to open them before she slipped out then waited, listening carefully to her surroundings. She could hear them above and below … and she could hear them running down the stairs. But they weren't stopping on her floor. But that wouldn't last long.

The electrical supply was on this floor … and she was pretty sure she remembered that this was where most of their meeting rooms were … storage … things that they weren't overly concerned about at that particular moment, so she headed to the opposite direction of the stairwell looking for any kind of window that she could break and climb out of. She was relieved to see that it was dark out at least.

But as she was moving boxes from the storage room so she could  _reach_ the window that spilled out to ground level, she heard swearing from down the hall. She knew if it was Logan or Hank, it would be just a matter of tracking her by scent … the telepaths could cheat and reach out … so all she had left at this point was to just …  _run_.

No reason to be sneaky if she was already busted, after all. She got up high enough to cut her way out of the window, then pulled herself out, though it wasn't one of those with advanced senses that heard the glass break.

She was almost out when Angel took a hold of her ankle and tried to pull her back in - succeeding only halfway, but that was more than she wanted to go along with, and she started simply blindly kicking at them until she heard something break and he swore outright. "You broke my finger!"

"Sorry," she tossed over her shoulder as she got to her feet and flat out ran for the treeline.

Halfway there, she heard a low sort of growl and dropped flat to the ground as Hank went for the tackle. But that just meant a change in direction. She honestly didn't want to hurt him, but she was leaving. Now. He'd missed her by a fine margin and had she only ducked, it would have been over already. "I don't have your book," K said with a little smirk before she darted off again, though she spared a glance to see who, exactly was giving chase.

Of course it was the ones that weren't still in the basement - Cyclops and Phoenix rushing together as always - and on an ice slide came Bobby - well ahead of the other two. She turned back to pay attention to where she was running, stopping short and then darting to her left when Hank rushed at her again. "You need to tighten your corners, big guy," she called out - simply small enough and quick enough to avoid him, though she knew she was screwed if he caught her.

But that didn't really help her much when she saw Hank grab a tree one handed and use that to swing around to change direction. She swore under her breath and started up again, wondering how bad it was going to be if Hank beat her to the trees. But that thought fell to the wayside when the entire lawn in front of her for at least thirty yards in every direction simply iced over.

K was at a dead run when she hit it, and it took a moment of slipping and sliding before she  _did_ fall flat - though she kept sliding, and it wasn't stopping Hank from sliding either. She rode it out as best she could - seeing no sense in fighting the ice, though she did put her hands out to try to grab some snow and ice. By the time Bobby got close, she had enough for  _one_ snowball that she whipped his way, half startling him off of his ice slide as she got to her feet again, skating the last few yards before she started running again.

"Scott," Jean called out, frowning at the scene ahead of them. "She's not trying to hurt anyone."

Scott had a hand to his visor, but he had to pause and look her way for a moment, clearly frowning as well. He had to admit that Jean was right, but he didn't want to just… let her go back to Magneto. Or to give up the chance to get answers.

As he watched, Hank had another very very close catch, though this time, when K slipped past him - it was under his legs to then almost leapfrog over his head - though with enough force to push him off his feet. And by that time, Logan and Angel were finally up and headed out to help.

"Take a shot yet, Scooter?" Logan called out.

"She's trying not to hurt anyone; I'm going to return the favor," Scott said.

"Diplomatic, sweetheart," Jean said under her breath.

He shot her a look before he called out to K, "We don't want this to become a fight it doesn't have to be."

"Then leave me alone," she called back.

"You have to know we can't just let you go back to Magneto."

"So that's my only options?" she shouted back, sounding more angry now and then squaring up to wait for the next attack, since it didn't look like she was going to out run them. "Fine."

He paused at that. "No one would stop you if you said you don't want to be part of his team either," he said. "That's - preferable, honestly."

"Did they even try to pull me out of there?" she asked.

Scott gestured openly. "No," he said. "But I'd still like to know how you got past our systems. So someone else can't come in and take advantage too."

"No one else is going to do that," she said, shaking her head. "I don't share trade secrets with anyone."

"So we're just supposed to trust you?" Warren said, still mad about the broken bone he was nursing.

"I really don't care if you trust me or not," she said.

Jean took a step forward. "It's just that we don't know enough about you," she said. "We don't know if you keep your word. We don't know if you will turn right around and tell the next Magneto our personal secrets."

"I haven't told anyone a thing," she said, scrunching her nose up at Jean.

Jean watched her for a moment and then nodded slowly. "Then I think we're getting off on the wrong foot," she offered. "We're just trying to protect our family. And it's obvious you have been avoiding hurting us-"

"-Obvious?" Warren cut in.

"-as much as possible," Jean said, shooting Warren a look. "Why don't we start over?"

"You grabbed me," K said, pointing his way. "All bets are off if you grab me."

Scott watched the interaction quietly for a long moment before he took a step K's way. "If we find you with Magneto again, there will be a fight," he said. "But if you're choosing your own path, then the X-Men aren't going to stand in the way. We fight against violence, not free choice."

"I've just been trying to get to my cottage for the past … years."

Scott took a deep breath and glance back at the other X-Men before he nodded. "Go home," he said. "I won't stop you. I'd be a hypocrite to say I don't believe in second chances at a normal life."

She watched them all for just a moment before she took a few steps backwards then turned on her heel and took off again, disappearing into the trees silently - and before long, even the branches she'd disturbed were still.

She ran for a while, and kept going long after any indication that they might have lied faded away. K had even managed to thumb a ride west a few hours and was changing direction, walking down a quiet dirt road when she felt a little tug that pulled her backward a few inches from where she'd stopped to catch a break.

She didn't have time to process it before she found her feet off the ground - and once again was hovering as Erik floated over to her with a little frown in place. "You allowed yourself to be captured," he said, looking more disapproving with every word.

"Which time?" she asked, not at all happy with the way that this was working out.

"I think we need to have a little talk about loyalties," Erik said, frowning deeper and stretching out her limbs to the point of painfulness. "Once we're back on Avalon, of course."


	4. The Beginning Of The End For Earth's Mightiest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so I'm impatient and wanna see this one up, okay? Not sorry.

It was quiet from all fronts for several weeks after the X-Men had let K leave  _mostly_ peacefully. Scott was starting to believe that their late night visitor had actually done as she'd said and simply disappeared into the woodwork. Until of course, one morning over coffee, the news picked up a story that he definitely could have done without hearing first thing.

Magneto was making an open threat to anyone that disturbed the sanctity of the safe houses and shelters that were offering sanctuary to mutants. The speech he was rattling off was as condescending and threatening as any that he had ever uttered before- mixed with just enough fire and passion to draw in support from a larger group than he had already.

And then, as the camera panned out, the screen showed the short, pretty little brunette that he'd let leave with their secrets. Scott stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the screen, his jaw clenching and his anger rising. She was almost expressionless as she stood with her arms crossed low standing on Erik's left with Wanda and Pietro on his right. There was no way he'd have her on a public stage unless she was important to him. And Scott had let her walk.

He couldn't believe he'd let her convince him she was anything like neutral.

It appeared as though this particular broadcast was old though since the reporter went into a live feed of most of Magneto's group as they hit back at a battalion of MRD that had raided and shot up half of a homeless center that was open to mutants in Brooklyn. The footage covered the fight - and the backlash as Erik crushed sentinels and MRD choppers alike as they tried to back up their troops that were getting pounded. It was official, and had it been a smaller effort - or if Magneto hadn't made such a show of it - it wouldn't be an all out war. But now?

Scott was just considering calling the team together to go and help when the reporter got a little more excitable - and the Avengers showed up on the scene. The camera man rushed to get a better angle as Captain America found a spot to try and reason with Magneto before it devolved further.

"The fight is over," Cap was arguing. "You made your point."

"And you're here to defend the police force that is encouraging this," Erik countered.

"I'm here to prevent a  _war_ ," Steve said. "I don't agree with anything that happened in Brooklyn. That's my  _home town_. Do you think I wanted to see that kind of intolerance happen here? But that's not an excuse for this. You bring the people responsible to justice - you don't do  _this_ ," he said, gesturing around him at the evidence of the fight all around them.

"This is the first time that you've seen anything happen to a population that's different then?" Erik asked with a raised eyebrow. "I thought you of all people wouldn't forget what horrors happen when one group is allowed to treat another as less than human."

Steve narrowed his eyes. "I know," he said in a more dangerous tone than before. "But I also know the difference between a flawed system and what we fought against in the war."

"But you want to put your faith in that flawed system," Erik said low. "And what we fought against isn't so different."

"I put my faith in people. Where it should be," Steve said. "This has  _always_ been the struggle for anyone who's different. But you know violence doesn't work to change minds. It just gives people an excuse for more violence. Is that what you want?"

Erik glanced at him, looking for a moment like he was just appeasing him. "I can tell you firsthand that following the restrictions and laws meant to channel someone into  _camps_ leads to nothing but genocide." He leaned forward. "Do some research, Captain Rogers. It's going on  _now_ , in this country."

Steve frowned harder at that. "If that's true, then I won't let that stand," he said. "And if that proves to be the case, then I'll be the first in line to tear them down."

"You should ask your friends at SHIELD what they've been ignoring for the last decade or so," Erik said, gesturing to the broken sentinel nearby. "Though I can't imagine what you think that those giant mutant hunting robots are for if not rounding us up."

Steve tipped his head. "I was under the impression they were there for you to crush into tin cans."

Erik smirked. "When I come across them, yes, but what about my children? Or my lovely friend?"

He had gestured toward K, and when Steve looked her way, she shook her head lightly. "Leave me out of it," K said, stepping back to avoid as much of it as she could.

Steve let his shoulders drop as he shifted his stance to a more reasonable one. "I'm not endorsing this full-press assault you're doing, but if you know where there are camps - if you know where this kind of thing is happening, please -  _tell_ me. Tell the Avengers."

"The Avengers have  _never_ done anything for mutants," Erik said in a rumbling tone.

"We protect the world - everyone in it. We don't pick and choose what that means."

At that though, K let out a little sound and tipped her head to the side, almost grimacing. "If that were true, then where do you think all the mutants have been going? There have been bigger raids than this that have resulted in slaughters for mutants - mostly young teenagers… no Avengers showed up."

"I'm sorry," Steve said, turning her way and looking genuine about it. "I really am. I wish the Avengers could be everywhere. But that's what groups like the X-Men, even the Defenders are for. We can't get everyone that deserves it."

K held his gaze for a long moment, but she couldn't just … ignore it, and just as Steve turned his focus back to Magneto, she simply couldn't hold her tongue. "Captain Rogers," she said, kicking herself away from where she'd been leaning. "This same kind of thing happened in midtown not three days ago. It was six blocks from Avengers Tower. The police ignored it as soon as it was determined to be mutants that had died." She tipped her chin down. "And as much as you'd like to pass the buck on this one, the X-Men can't be expected to cover everything to do with mutants. They don't  _have_ the public backing or the support that you do. And the Defenders are even smaller."

Steve let out a slow breath. "We do what we can," he said. "We're not perfect. But I wish like hell we were."

"The fact is that the attack on the mutants here in Brooklyn happened  _technically_ yesterday … and no one responded … which is why our strike back happened today …"

"I'm not arguing that these people should escape justice, ma'am," Steve said, taking a few steps toward her. "All I'm trying to do is stand in the way of another war. I've seen what that does to innocent people, and I'd just as soon avoid another one and find another way to fix this. I'm  _not_ saying there's no problem. I'm only trying to save more lives." He held her gaze for just a moment and then turned back to Magneto.

"But only when its not mutants. Because that's not  _your_ problem, is it?"

Steve turned her way fully and glared hard. "Lady, if you're not going to listen to a word I say, then you're not worth talking to," he said with some real heat. "I just told you I wish to God I could be in every place and stop every crime but I can't, and if that's not good enough for you, then you need to find someone else to blame."

"I'm not blaming you," she clarified. "All I'm saying is that you can't come in trying to stop him from payback and play both sides against the middle. I'm sure there are some  _innocent_ humans you want to help. Somewhere. Kitten up a tree. Something more worthy than mutant genocide."

Steve crossed his arms. "I'm not playing both sides. I don't work for  _either_ side. I'm telling you the God's honest truth, and just because that includes me and my team being fallible - that doesn't mean I can't try to stop a war. I do my best, ma'am."

"The trouble here, Captain," Erik said in a rolling sort of rumble. "Is that the war is already on. The only problem is that we're fighting back."

"The problem I'm having now is this," Steve said, gesturing at the destruction around them. " _This_ is not solving anything. This is just destruction."

"Destruction of genetically predispositioned robots and the unconstitutional military force sent out to capture us," Erik said. He waved his hand to clear the path between them, and when he waved it again, it was to pull K from where she'd been leaning against a streetlamp to a spot between himself and Steve.

"I really don't want to fight you," K told Steve, her voice almost small.

"Then don't," he said. "That's always an option."

"I don't think I have a choice in it." She squared up and shook her head at him. "There's no way that this will look good for you."

"I've never been too worried about PR, much as the history books would say otherwise."

She shook her head lightly, her tone just loud enough for him to hear. "This … this  _can't_ end well. Win or lose … this ... Cap … I'm a foot shorter, tiny, and a woman …  _please don't_."

"You know I can't let you and your friends go any further. Retaliation is one thing. But this is too far," Steve said, settling into a fighting stance. "I'd rather not fight you, too."

She looked honestly upset, but took a step toward him, her hands in fists as she angled her body slightly away. Steve let out a breath that perfectly conveyed exactly how disappointed he was that she wasn't backing down and slung his shield on his back. K leaned forward and they headed for each other. It wasn't even much of a fight though. At all.

It was hard to tell who threw the first punch, but after a few skillful dodges on both sides, K very suddenly couldn't pick her arms up beyond holding her hands near her ready position. Her legs wouldn't move either. She couldn't block him, and she couldn't dodge. It was only for an instant, but it was perfectly timed for Steve to land a solid, hard hit that sent her down and out.

It was clear that Steve hadn't expected it at  _all._ Not knocking her out … and not breaking his hand, which … had him more than a little confused. For a moment, he couldn't help but sway, his stomach twisting at the broken bones. But when he got his bearings back, the first thing he noticed was that the woman he'd been scrapping with was laid out cold. He didn't seem to register what was being said as he immediately made his way over toward her to check on her. She was bloodied up pretty well, wasn't moving, and to his irritation, instead of checking on her himself, Magneto was pandering to the cameras.

With an irritated sort of look on his face, he tried to rouse her gently. "Come on, wake up," Steve said as he checked her vitals and Magneto continued to rile up the crowd.

As soon as K's eyes fluttered open, she found once again that she couldn't move, though this time, it was because her entire body felt much, much heavier. She didn't miss that Steve was kneeling next to her, looking almost sick as he tried to bring her back to consciousness, all while cradling his broken hand to his chest.

Very suddenly, the heavy sensation lifted and K picked up her head slightly to Steve's relief. But the damage was just getting started, really.

Erik was using the cameras against Steve - and though she'd been unconscious for the kick off, K knew that they'd caught a show as Captain America KO'd a tiny woman on live TV.

Steve was trying to get K to respond to him, since she still hadn't moved much or answered him yet, but it wasn't until he had her halfway cradled that she said a word. And it was all at once.

" _Project:Wideawake_ will show you what the sentinel's programming is intended for, their capabilities, and how they've been utilized so far. There is a proposal that's sitting on the president's desk called  _Operation:Zero Tolerance_  that will have people screaming about how right Magneto is," K said at just over a whisper - and she knew he heard her by the total change in expression on his face. "You're looking for Camp Hayden, Kentucky. Camp Neverland in Alberta _._ "

"Is this where …"

"The US is still funding Weapon X," K continued quietly and quickly as Steve looked more upset. "Look in the Department of Agriculture under the pest control division.  _I_ would have told you if I could have talked to you away from the cameras. But there is no way I could get a message to Captain America without going through compromised soldiers or breaking through Stark's security … which … you never would have listened to me that way, or through any other method that I had at my disposal."

"You could have gone to the X-Men," Steve said. "They could have gotten the message to me."

But she shook her head at that. "They wouldn't have listened to me either. But they  _knew_ about the camps." She looked on the verge of … something as she shook her head. "I didn't want to be the one to take down Captain America."

"Don't worry, you didn't," Steve said, trying to assure her, but K shook her head lightly and looked up at him, meeting his gaze head on.

"Yes. I did. And I'm sorry for that."

* * *

Back at the mansion, Scott had seen the whole thing, half frozen as he watched it going down. Magneto had to have had some supporters in the newsroom because there is no way all that aired would have made it to broadcast otherwise. Unless of course, they were hoping to show how dangerous and evil these mutants were - which also, would not have surprised him in the least.

But no matter what the intention was … what they had was what looked like Captain America one-shotting a woman that he knew was a lot more formidable than she seemed on the news. Not that it mattered. The imagery was hard to argue with, and the parallel that the newscaster was using was precisely what K and Erik had been saying: that the Avengers only showed up for mutants after the damage was done. And worse still was the fact that they were trying to say that Captain America was a little too eager to punch a 'defenseless' woman.

Scott rested his chin in the palm of his hand as he thought it over. The servers that they had set up in the basement would have recorded this and every other related broadcast once the word 'mutant' came up. He picked up his coffee and headed downstairs to watch the fight again, slower and on a bigger screen. Something wasn't right about that fight. He hoped there was a different angle than the one he'd seen already starring Captain America with a solid battle glare as he knocked her out and then immediately regretted it. That much was clear, anyhow.

Scott had to have gone through it three or four times before he thought he had it figured out … she'd frozen.  _Purposely_ an instant before Cap hit her. It was a set up from the word go. He narrowed his eyes and locked his jaw down a little tighter. That was beyond dirty. And it did nothing to ease his anger with her. They were going to have to get her out of this fight before Magneto let the woman run wild to cause  _more_ chaos.

With that, he made up his mind to put Logan on her and have  _him_ do some digging through any means he wanted. They couldn't fight a woman who wasn't following the rules without bending the rules a little themselves. And Logan would know exactly where to go and who to talk to in order to do exactly that.

* * *

Meanwhile, K was clearly unhappy as the group headed back to Avalon. She had her arms crossed over her chest and she was physically as far away from the others as she could be … until of course, Erik pulled her closer.

"You did beautifully, my dear," he said, his tone echoing exactly how pleased he was with the day's events. "You should be proud."

"You used me to set up  _Captain America_ ," she growled out. "I told you I didn't want anything to do with screwing with the Avengers, and you  _purposely_ used my own  _body_ against me." She didn't even bother to try and hide her anger with him for that.

Erik let out a patient breath and tipped his chin down, though his tone shifted to one that clearly showed that he expected complete obedience. "I simply used what was available to me in the most efficient way possible -  _and_ it put an end to the battle quickly. Isn't that what  _he_ wanted?"

Her growl shifted lower at that. "You know damn well that wasn't what he wanted," she said, pointing a finger his way. "If you were done being an ass, why didn't we leave sooner? Or were you planning on doing that the whole time?"

For an instant Erik faltered, but then he put on a tight sort of smug smile. "You don't have many options, and even fewer friendly faces to welcome you. But, if you would prefer going back to the situation I  _found_ you in …"

"No," she said, shaking her head at that and losing some steam.

"This  _will_ pave the road to better things for all of mutantkind," Erik said gently before he rested his hand on her shoulder. "And there are far too many others out there that would happily take advantage of you if given half a chance. I am simply trying to protect  _you_ as much as I'm trying to make sure that the world is a safe one for my grandchildren." He dipped his head down slightly. "They  _adore_ you. I know you'd like to see the best for them."

K seemed to lose more of her fire as she thought of the twin boys that belonged to Wanda. "I don't want to be used like that," she said finally. "You knew that."

"I did not mean to offend," Erik said soothingly, but that had K's eyes narrowed as she turned toward him, her eyes flashing dangerously. "It's not a lie."

"But it's not exactly true either," she said. "You just didn't  _care_ if you offended."

"Either way, I don't think that same trick will work again." He brushed off her concerns easily, and for the rest of the ascent, K was trying to shake the feeling of wanting to strangle him with her bare hands. Which of course, was a lot easier to do once they made it to Avalon, and they were greeted by two happy very small boys.

Wanda crouched down to scoop them both into a hug, but as soon as they got snuggles from their mother, Billy led the charge to hurry over and pull on K's pants leg, his head tipped back as far as he could make it go to look up at her as he used her for balance to keep from toppling over backwards.

"You want to ride on my shoulders again don't you?" K asked before she crouched down and let him climb up on her, giggling the whole way. Wanda did the same with Tommy - who was crowing about being taller with chants of "I bigger! I b-i-i-i-igger!" as the group made their way toward the inner rooms of Avalon.

Erik looked over his shoulder at the two women and gave K a smug sort of look. "This is what we're fighting for, my dear. Their continued innocence."

K scowled, though neither boy saw her, and before they got much further, Wanda put out a hand to get K to stop. "I'm not happy with how this went down today either," she said quietly. "Steve was a friend of mine. But you have to know, not once while I was on that team did we ever intervene in favor of a mutant."

"I know," K said in soft response as Billy got a handful of her hair and pulled. "It just wasn't right to do that to him."

"No, it wasn't," she agreed before she let out a sigh. "But … let's get the boys a snack. I'm sure they'd love to help with some lemonade."

K let out a sigh and turned her head so she could peek up at Billy, who grinned widely and kissed her head right at her hairline. "Alright," K said, which got a bigger grin out of the little boy.


	5. Spider-Boy And The X-Men

In the days and weeks following Captain America's horrible press, attacks on mutants and humans rose exponentially. There were raids all over the country, and trouble was even starting to uptick on a global scale - though for as hot as it was stateside, neither the Brotherhood or the X-Men had time to consider other parts of the world.

The raid in Queens had been a particularly nasty one, and though the MRD had shown up - and been subsequently slaughtered by both Brotherhood and civilians alike - some of the collateral was harsh. Entire neighborhoods were burning, and K stood in the center of the street simply watching the mess unfold fully. She never wanted any part of this. Taking out the department, sure … but this?

The rest of Magneto's closest followers were spread throughout the borough wreaking havoc and outright murdering as many humans as they could come across, but K was already tired of the loud disaster they were making. She much preferred to move in the darkness and tactically strike silently whenever possible toward those that deserved it but this … this was anything but. This was the equivalent of carpet bombing with napalm and white phosphorus. And she wasn't taking part.

She had managed to keep her new black and purple uniform mostly clean - it was a point she prided herself on, after all - and as she turned to a section of the neighborhood that Magneto had dropped a sentinel on top of, she had to pause. Someone very small was softly crying in the wreckage.

K looked up into the sky to see where Erik was … and huffed to herself when she realized he was already several blocks down and not paying attention to anything around him. "Typical," she muttered before she ran her hands over her uniform to clear off whatever near invisible debris might be on her and smooth the fabric out before she started to approach one of the houses that was at least partly standing.

She frowned when she saw the scene up close. A brown haired man was crushed under the robot, and she paused on seeing his face. This was no mistake … Erik had targeted this house. He had to have. This man … was a scientist and a spy for SHIELD.

"Richard Parker," K said to herself, frowning harder before she again found her gaze searching the skies for Erik.

They didn't know much about the Parkers. Only that they'd been working for SHIELD, though to what capacity, they hadn't gotten the intel for. In fact, it was something K was supposed to find out when she made her raid on the Helicarrier and Fury's office a little later that month when the ship was set to dock and refuel. That on its own had her growling in the back of her throat. But the simple fact that she once again heard the sound of someone small … sobbing somewhere in the destroyed house had her flat out pissed off.

She pulled Parker out of the way so she could start working her way through the wreckage, looking and listening for any kind of sound that would lead her to the kid.  _The kid._ That was another detail that they'd needed to KNOW before deciding what to do with Parker.

The house was exactly what she'd expected of a stick built home after a sentinel fell on it, and after she'd shimmied through a few very tight spots, she positively froze when she saw the source of the crying. A little boy, not more than four was tugging on his mother's hand underneath a broken beam that had once supported the roof of their home. The woman of course, was beyond help, but the little guy …

K crawled closer to them and tried to go easy with him. "Hey little fella, we gotta get you out of here," she said as dust swirled down around them. The place was totally trashed, and there was no way that this kid was going to live if she  _didn't_ pull him out, but naturally, he didn't want to leave his mother.

She got as close as she could and double checked, but … Mary Parker never really had a chance. K gently pulled the little boy over and wrapped him up in a tight hug, shushing him until he more or less snuggled in and then she very quickly started to work her way out of the destroyed home. There were a few spots she had to cut through since she was bringing the little boy with her, but, she worked fast, and when she got to the street, it was about all she could do to  _not_ growl when she saw the flicker of Erik's cape an entire neighborhood over.

She started walking, holding the quietly crying little boy close, and headed for the loudest commotion, where she could clearly see that a couple of Erik's followers were in a fight with the X-Men. "Took 'em long enough to get here," she muttered to herself. "And still … no Avengers."

She wasn't sure what to do with the little guy, but she was sure that he wasn't going to be in the best spot for him if he'd gone back with her to Erik's little floating prison. She wasn't going to hand over a kid to be indoctrinated after Erik had murdered the boy's parents.

When she got to where the X-Men were fighting Magneto's little brotherhood -  _ugh_ , just the  _name_ of those self important morons had her bristling - she simply observed to see if she could figure out where exactly they had come in from. And considering where they were standing in relation to the Brotherhood …

"Come on, little guy, we're gonna get you somewhere safe," K told him. She headed down and circled back behind the X-Men's line. It seemed to be the most reasonable thing to her … backtracking on the scent trails to see where they'd started. Of course, this left her cut off from the rest of her side of the fight, but she wasn't overly concerned. Erik would certainly yank her back when they were ready to leave if she wasn't where he could see her.

She paused when she could smell the cloaked jet's hot engines nearby and then turned to see the path that she thought it most likely that they'd use to come back, knowing full well that they rarely all travelled back in a group - preferring to take more individual routes to cover their tracks. It was a smart move.

But she really didn't want to be waiting next to the jet for when they all converged. She bit her lip and thought it over, deciding that if they believed Xavier's line, any one of them would be up for taking the little boy.

So she picked one of the less- direct paths back that would not likely be used by one of the less powerful of the group and tucked herself into an alley. It wasn't an ambush, she told herself. Not really. It was a narrow path, and there were no side routes without backtracking, and she knew that whoever it was that came that way wouldn't turn their back on her. She shushed the little boy and told him to hide, tucking him out of sight in case they attacked her instead of hearing her out. When her quarry came close, she simply stepped out of the alley before he could pass her by. "We need to talk."

It was no shock to her when the one that had come down the path was the same one that she would have rather avoided. Scott froze and then almost automatically put a hand to his visor, though he didn't shoot her. "Last time we tried that, you lied and broke your word," he said with a glare.

She closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head lightly. "No I didn't."

"You'll forgive me if I don't take your word for it," Scott shot back.

"Yeah, I know all about your trust issues. This isn't about me though."

"That's a change." Scott didn't move from where he was still ready to shoot if need be. "What do you want?" he asked.

She let out a breath and held up both hands palms out. "You take kids, right?"

It was clearly not a question he'd expected. "What?"

"Kids. Small people. You know.. The ones that have a sense of humor? You take them?"

He shook his head for a moment but seemed to try for a more open look, even if he wasn't quite there. "Yeah, we don't have an age limit."

"Good," she said before she gestured to the little alcove she'd been in. "He needs safe shelter." But when Scott didn't move, she rolled her eyes and turned her back to him as she headed over to pick up the little boy and carry him to the center of the alley.

Scott's lips were slightly parted in surprise before he seemed to recover and take a step forward. "Where did you find him?"

"A few neighborhoods over," she said, not moving since the little guy was again latched onto her. "Some asshole dropped a sentinel on his house."

Scott paused as he watched the little boy. "Do you know who?"

She looked up at him with a little smile. "Oh, good. You do have a little sense of humor. Yes. I do, in fact know who it was. He's got himself a new cape. Thinks he looks amazing in it. He is so, so wrong."

Scott couldn't quite help the smirk as he nodded. "Well, what's this little guy's name?"

K looked up at him and let out her breath. "I don't know his first name, he's been crying. Poor kid lost both of his parents - they were targeted. That's all I can tell you for sure. But his last name is Parker."

Scott nodded slowly as he shifted his body language and dipped his head to try and catch the little boy's gaze and K turned so that Scott could get a better chance of looking him in the face. "Can you tell me your name?" he asked in a far kinder tone than she'd heard from him before. "I'm Scott."

K's eyes widened for a moment and she couldn't help but smile at Scott's change in tone. She tipped her head the same way, even going a step further to bounce the boy a little and tickle his side until he looked up at them.

"Peter," the little boy said in a small voice before he dropped his head against K's shoulder again, and she shifted her arms to give him a better snuggle and half curl around him.

"That's a good boy," she said quietly. "Do you want to say hello to Scott? I think he can get you away from all of this awfulness."

Scott nodded encouragingly at the little boy. "We've got a pretty big place - plenty of space to run around and play. If you want, there's some huge trees that are great for climbing."

The little guy still had tear streaks on his cheeks as he looked up at Scott and then sat up better to look between the two of them. "That sounds like fun," he said softly.

Scott smiled at that and gently held out his arms in an invitation to him. "Alright, Peter, let's get you someplace safe, huh?"

K took a step toward Scott so Peter could lean into him and make the transition easier. "Thanks," she said quietly. "If you were smart, you'd have your telepath friends take a peek at how things happened. He was with his mother." She shook her head and looked truly unhappy about the whole thing. "It was bad. He'll need someone."

Scott frowned over the top of Peter's head at that but didn't say anything on that except to nod. "He'll be alright," he promised.

"I know," she said before she turned and very nearly disappeared back into the shadows again.

Scott curled around the boy protectively as he watched her leave, frowning to himself at yet another mixed message. "Let's get you settled," Scott said gently as he took a little closer look at the boy. He didn't trust that this wasn't some kind of trick. From what Logan had been able to dig up about K from Weapon X's files, it wasn't out of the realm of possibility for her to use whatever she could to get to them.

Just before they boarded the blackbird, Scott saw the red bandage on Peter's wrist. "What happened here, buddy?" Scott asked, and Peter's eyes widened and he cringed.

"I got a 'pider bite," he said quietly. "It hurt real bad, but my mom squished it and put the bandaid on."

Scott frowned at that but nodded, already projecting out for Jean to send Hank out to check he boy for tracers before they took off. After all, he still didn't trust K, even if he wasn't going to say anything in front of the kid.

* * *

**K planned on taking her time getting back to the group, but as the X-Men took off - she felt herself being lifted up off of the ground. "Did you engage the X-Men?" Erik asked with a manic expression on his features.**

"No," K said, lying easily. "I didn't get there fast enough. Other things were on my mind."

Erik frowned and the two of them made their way back to the rest of his group that was re-gathering. "What sort of things?" He sounded genuinely interested, even a bit concerned, and it was the tone more than anything that had her irritated all over again.

"You killed Parker," she said, openly glaring his way.

"Yes, I did," Erik replied, though he looked confused by her irritation. "That was likely going to be the outcome anyhow, even with your intelligence gathering." he waved a hand. "He was working with SHIELD, it would have come back against us, I'm sure."

"He had a  _wife_ ," K said through gritted teeth. "And a  _son_."

At that Erik stopped and for a moment looked as if he was sorry to hear it, though he didn't comment for a long while. "I had no idea there was a child involved," Erik said finally, but then he took a breath and held it as he watched the little feral. "How did you know about the boy?"

"I heard him crying in the house," she said evenly. "He was next to his mother. Nothing I could do." At the moment, she didn't know why she'd flat out lied to cover the boy's continued existence, but she wasn't about to renege on it now.

"Well," Erik said at last. "This is war. Casualties are bound to happen." He gently set her on the ground before they reached the rest of the Brotherhood. "I know it's harder to process with your mutation, but even children die in wars, my dear."

K stiffened and turned her head his way, irritated at his brush off, and only cementing her resolve to help more little ones if he was going to be an idiot about it.

* * *

Once Scott was satisfactorily convinced that Peter wasn't carrying any trackers, he brought the little guy into the jet, where he was attempting to make Peter's transition easy, but as soon as Logan showed up - still smoking, half dressed in shredded bits of uniform, singed, battered, and irritated - that all went up in smoke. Peter's eyes widened and he unconsciously disentangled himself from Scott with a sniff and started toward where Logan had dropped into a seat - looking at him over the back of his chair.

"Did you get hurt? Are you okay? What happened? Do you need a bandaid? I got a red one when I got bited by a 'pider, but I don't know if they make bandaids big enough for what happened to you!" Peter couldn't seem to stop asking questions - let along stop long enough for Logan or anyone else to answer them. "WAIT! I see-ed you on tv! You're … you're … wolf… wolfer …."

"Wolverine," Jean said, smirking to herself even wider when Peter JOYOUSLY agreed with her and then started to climb over the top of the seat to sit next to Logan and continue to quiz him without letting him answer anything.

"WhatsaWolverineanyhow?" Peter asked in a breath. "Are they yellow too? Do they have stripes? Are they even  _real_?"

Jean turned quickly to hide the grin at the look of pure disbelief on Logan's face as the little boy latched on with a million questions about not only Logan's name but the superhero gig in general and working toward climbing into Logan's lap while he was still entirely off his guard.

"Okay, lover, what's the story here?" Jean asked as she took the seat behind Scott and leaned over his shoulder.

Scott let out a weary sort of sigh and projected out how the entire hand off had gone, leaving Jean frowning deeper. "I just can't figure out her game," Scott admitted. "She doesn't make any sense at all."

"I'll have a little mercy on Logan and get Peter to go to sleep," Jean suggested. "Then I'll see what his view of the whole thing was."

"No rush," Scott said, smirking as he turned to see Peter pulling Logan's cowl over his head - and loudly asking if he looked like a superhero with it on. "He's enjoying himself right now."

 _And so are you, Scott,_  Jean projected out before she leaned forward to kiss his jaw.

By the time they landed in Westchester, Peter was starting to slow down, but he hadn't stopped yet, and he was making a point to stick close to Logan - though once they were in the lab, Jean intervened for him, gently redirecting Peter to see Hank so they could get him checked over.

But when the check up was over, Peter was a lot quieter, just staring at the Twinkie in his hand that Hank had given him. "Are you alright, Peter?" Hank asked as the little boy's eyes welled up with tears.

"I want my mom," he said quietly.

Hank's warm smile dropped as he looked toward Jean, who was waiting nearby to take Peter upstairs. "I know," he said, dipping his head down to catch Peter's gaze. "She gave you your red Band-aid, right?"

He nodded his head slowly, still staring at the Twinkie in his hand. "We always got a pretzel after doctor shots."

Hank's smile was completely gone by then before Jean stepped in, giving Peter a little smile as she simply scooped him up herself. "We'll get a pretzel next time," she assured him. "Why don't you tell me what happened? All I know is that you love Wolverine and have a very nice Band-aid."

"Mom was readin' me a story, and Dad was goin' to get my glass of water when the  _whole house just broke._ "

Jean raised both eyebrows and made an impressed sound. "That sounds scary," she said, nodding along.

Peter looked up at her and blinked a couple of times. "My mom wasn't moving. I didn't see Dad anywhere … do you think he's okay?"

Jean bit her lip and glanced at Hank, though he didn't look like he had any answer she could give either. "I don't know," she admitted. "I didn't see your house."

"That lady that got me out of the house had me hide my face on the way out," he told her. "She was kicking through walls an' stuff." He paused. "Do you think she'll find my Aunt May and Uncle Ben?"

Jean bit her lip and then nodded. "If she can't, then we'll try to find them too," she promised.

"They were next door," Peter said, perking up a little bit. "She makes the best cookies in Queens!"

"I'm sure she does," Jean said, though hearing that his family was next door didn't fill her with confidence. "We don't have any cookies, but I have a secret stash of chocolate chip ice cream we can break into if you want it," she offered, grasping for something to cheer him up.

His eyebrows went up at that. "You hide  _ice cream_? What -  _how big is your freezer_?"

Jean couldn't help but smile as she leaned forward. "I have a friend who can make ice out of thin air," she said. "And he owed me a favor. So -  _voila_! - ice box for ice cream."

"That is so cool!"

Jean grinned and then, because he was so enthusiastic, tossed him in the air - and kept him there. "What do you think?" she said as she lifted herself up to his level. "Should we fly there?"

"You can  _fly_?" He looked just as flabbergasted as when he was quizzing Logan. "How do you do that? What else can you do? How many superheroes are there here?"

Jean grinned as she let Peter 'fly' with her toward the stairs. "Well, I can make other things fly with my mind…"  _And I can say hello with my mind, too,_ she projected to him, grinning widely when he seemed even more excited.

Jean had already projected out to Scott that they were getting ice cream, so by the time she and Peter finished their flight up to Jean's room, Scott had an ice cream scooper and a few bowls, and he waved with the hand that wasn't holding the scooper when the two of them arrived.

"I thought you said it was secret!" Peter said.

"Oh, this was secret?" Scott asked Jean, which got her to shove him back a couple steps at the troublemaking smirk he was wearing.

"It  _was_ ," Jean said with a sigh before she tapped Peter on the end of the nose. "Did you know Scott has superpowers too?" she prompted him, wearing almost the same troublemaking look right back at Scott.

Peter whipped around to face him. "No way. What do you do? Do you fly? Or … or … or are you super strong? Can you talk to animals or … or … what do you do?"

Scott shook his head at Jean, though he couldn't help but smile at Peter. "Well, I have optic blasts - that means my eyes have powerful beams behind them."

His eyes widened and he straightened up. "You  _shoot laser beams?_ "

"Well, not really…" Scott let out a sigh. "Yes, sort of. You remember that visor I was wearing when I met you? That helps me control it."

"That is so cool," Peter said in a wide-eyed whisper.

Jean beamed at that as she handed Peter a bowl of ice cream. "I think so too," she told him. "This whole school is full of people with powers. We teach them how to control those powers. That's what we do."

"When we're not eating secret ice cream," Scott said with a smirk Jean's way.

* * *

In spite of the way that the mission had ended and how frustrated K had been with Erik, it was a relief to get back to the home base. She'd barely gotten through the doors when Wanda's two little ones made their way over, giggling and holding their arms up for snuggles.

But not from Erik.

The two little boys rushed over - racing each other as well as little toddlers can do, though as always, Tommy was there first just as K crouched down to greet them both - scooping them up one in each arm and growling playfully with them. Of course, that was their favorite part. The growls. Both of them were giggling madly by the time she gave them each a kiss on the cheek and set them down again.

It was a sure fire thing, at least, if they were awake when the group got back,  _then_ it was a surefire thing. It wasn't the boy's fault they were so eager to play. There weren't very many small children there - and those that were there, Wanda was more than a little paranoid over letting them play with them.

The only reason she didn't panic with K was because her reaction to them was so incredibly different than everyone else in Avalon. She actually cared about them, and Wanda could see it. So she did what any young mother would do - and took advantage of it so that she could spend more time with Vision.

Not that K was about to complain. The little boys were incredibly sweet and starved for attention from literally anyone but their parents. And considering that K would prefer to NOT deal with any of the adults … it was a perfect fit.

"Are you hungry?" K asked them, crouching down slightly as they walked … holding on to one of each of their hands. The two little boys nodded enthusiastically, and K gently directed them off so that she could spoil them with something, though Billy was chanting 'cocoa' over and over, so that was likely what they would end up with.

She missed entirely the little smirk that Erik was wearing as he watched her lead the little boys off and Tommy babbled complete nonsense and bounced in place trying to tell her … something.

Erik sighed heavily. He knew that he'd have to do something about casualties that had anything to do with kids. He just … like so many people before him, he didn't think of how the little feral would react. And it was clear that he needed to come up with something.

He mentally berated himself when he thought about it. Wolverine had been a  _soldier_. He'd seen wars up close, first hand -  _many of them_ , Erik knew. But even with the likelihood of her being much older than she looked - it would only mean that she was from a time where women were not expected to be anywhere near the front lines.  _Of course_  she was concerned with the children.

But with no immediate plan, he simply tucked that knowledge off to the side, and decided to keep a closer eye on her the next time that they went anywhere that children might be found.


	6. A+X

Steve had taken everything K had mentioned to heart. It had done him no good at all in the public eye when he wasn't available for comment after he'd knocked her out on camera, but he had been far too busy, having thrown himself into digging into the names of the camps, the project she'd mentioned, and then had even gone to Natasha to ask her to look into the Operation that K had said was on the President's desk and to dig into the Department of Agriculture on his way out to investigate the camps himself.

Obviously, he hadn't trusted her word on what she said was happening, not only because she was backing Magneto - but because he honestly didn't  _want_ to believe it. Something like that simply couldn't happen in the United States … not in the country that he'd fought so hard to defend.

But when he got to the camp in the Kentucky, he was dumbstruck and honesty couldn't even find the words to pull together. He wanted to liberate them on the spot. He wanted to decry it and say that it was something other than a prison camp - but the glowing lights on the collars that each and every inmate in the yard of the camp was wearing would have made that a lie before the words left his mouth.

But he still couldn't bring himself to say that Magneto was right when he knew, deep down, that what Magneto was doing was still  _wrong_. He backed away from the camp, sick to his stomach at seeing the truth before his eyes and made the decision to talk to the X-Men before he went any further. He knew that if the camp in Alberta was this bad or worse, he wouldn't be able to walk away for backup or anything else. As it was, he wanted to call in the Avengers - pull in SHIELD -  _something._ But he hoped that this place was a prison for criminals, not just … kids. He watched for a moment, trying to take in the demographics as best he was able, but what he saw wasn't very encouraging.

And that on its own had him very nearly rushing down on thes spot. A flicker of movement three hundred yards away and several stories up in the tree covered hills had Steve frowning - and a pang of anger hit him in the center of his chest when he realized it was a guard tower - far from the camp itself, and if that glint of light was any indicator, manned with snipers.

He needed back up. And more information.  _And_ he needed to coordinate with the X-Men.  _Right now_.

After a long night of driving, Steve was almost to the mansion in Westchester when his comm went off, forcing him to pull the motorcycle over so he could hear what Natasha had to say. "Her sources were legit," Natasha started off. " _Operation: Zero Tolerance_ is a mandatory mutant extermination plan, and yes, it's on the president's desk and has been for almost a month. The fact that he hasn't thrown it out is a little more than troublesome, but he hasn't signed it either…."

Steve's jaw locked and he stared off down the road. "And did you find ties between the US and Weapon X that are still intact?"

Natasha let out a little noise of irritation. "Not only that, but the department and division she mentioned were correct. They're being headed up by the same man that tortured my  _malen'kiy dyadya_ ," Natasha said, her voice hard. "They never quit, Steve. They just hid their classification. The higher ups in Washington know all about it. Her intel was solid. All of it. And another thing, Steve - I found information on her through that search. She's another weapon from the department and Weapon X. That's where Magneto found her. In stasis in one of their labs."

"I found the camp in Kentucky," Steve said after a long pause.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Natasha said.

"I'm almost to Westchester, keep digging, Nat. Please. We need to know everything before we stop this or we won't be able to take down everyone that backed it up."

"I don't think it's that simple, Cap," she said. "But I'll find everything."

He thanked her and hung up, then took a moment before he started the engine again and drove the last few miles to the Xavier Institute. It was dark by the time he got there, and the windows glowed warmly - barely visible from the road even after he'd turned through the gates.

He didn't waste a moment when Cyclops and Wolverine met him at the door. "Why didn't you tell me about the camps? Or the round ups?" Steve blurted out before Logan could even greet him.

The two mutants paused and Scott haltingly answered. "We didn't realize that you'd  _help_. It's out of the Avenger's usual scope."

Steve looked as if he'd been slapped. "This is  _exactly_ the kind of thing the Avengers are supposed to  _stop._ "

"Yeah, I'm not arguin' with you on that, Cap, but … why the sudden interest?" Logan asked. "This has been an ongoing thing for a while now and you've never shown up to one of our scuffles."

"I thought you were bringing kids at risk to your  _school_  and handling smaller things," Steve defended. "I didn't realize you were fighting something this big!"

"Well I guess now you know," Logan deadpanned as he turned and simply walked into the house, leaving Scott and Steve at the entry. Steve stared after him, still in a daze, particularly since it was  _Logan_ giving him a hard time over this.

"You have to understand," Scott said slowly, "We've always had to fight these fights ourselves. No one has ever cared what happens to us before. So it wasn't exactly our first thought to turn to a group that hasn't stepped in when mutants have been dying this whole time."

Steve threw his hands in the air and looked positively beside himself. "That … this was the whole reason my team even got started," he said. "It was never reported - I haven't ... I can't get involved if I don't know what's going on!"

Scott frowned as he watched how upset Steve looked. "Why don't you come inside," he offered.

"Did you know about the camps?"

Scott paused, then nodded slowly. "We haven't been able to stop them yet, but we're formulating a plan."

"K told me about it. The camps and everything else," Steve said. "I looked into everything she said, she didn't lie about any of it and … how is this not more widely known?" Steve stepped in with Scott, still clearly worked up. "Did she tell  _you_ about the proposal on the president's desk?"

"What proposal?"

Steve let out a sigh. "It's called  _Operation:Zero Tolerance_ ," he told him. "It's pretty much exactly what Magneto's been warning about for years."

"Then we should compare notes," Scott said. "If you're open to working together, that is."

"Of course! This is … it's mostly kids … yes. We need to work together. Natasha is getting the rest of the intel," Steve said, nodding. "We'll need to pool our resources since it sure looks like the government is hiding this. So yes. I want to work with your team. It's obviously long overdue." He let out a frustrated sounding noise and ran his hand through his hair. "But this woman … I can't get her out of my head. I don't understand what she's doing, Cyclops."

"Neither do I," Scott admitted. "She brought us a little boy that she rescued from the war zone Magneto's making - and then she'll turn around and work with the Brotherhood to slaughter the MRD with every bit of the viciousness Logan has when he gets wound up." He shook his head. "So if you know what to do, please, I'd love insight."

"If I can come up with any - you'll be my first call," Steve promised. "Something's not entirely right there."

* * *

The public backlash toward Cap and the Avengers had been  _surprisingly_ fierce - and almost instant, which only had K feeling more like trash as the weeks wore on - to the point that Erik had to intervene more than once to pull her out of trouble when she clearly didn't have it in her to fight back.

The fact that Wanda was giving him a  _look_ any time they got back from a mission only put the pressure on harder since now, her kids weren't getting as much time playing with the little feral either. And they were very unhappy about that fact.

Which, in all honestly, had Erik more troubled than he cared to admit. Not only for his family, but for the fragile allegiances that the tiny woman had for his cause. He knew that he needed to get K to refocus on what mattered to the cause, and with activity ticking up all around the globe, it was a matter of time before he found something worthwhile that would draw her attention.

But he was almost wary of letting her out unless he was there for the mission as well since she'd already proven that she could be a flight risk. And he wasn't done utilizing her skillset. There was still much to achieve - and Erik  _couldn't_ be there with her for everything.

The notion of having her work with Pietro was one that he only entertained for as long as Pietro's attention span lasted. The boy had come off on the wrong foot when he'd met K, and then every time afterward. She'd at least attempted cordiality, but the moment Pietro lost his manners, K positively latched on to the one thing that Pietro couldn't stand by purposely going slower around him in every way. She walked slower. She spoke slower, and she was sure to at least look as if she was very carefully weighing out her answers when asked a question. It was clearly to irritate him, but done in such a way that Pietro couldn't quite fight back or argue it.

What was more unfortunate was the press and the public's response to his little feral. He had assumed that it might go that way … she was attractive and at least on camera, she was the very opposite of outspoken. It just so happened that demand for the little woman was high, and many of the new recruits coming in wanted to meet her - many of them pledging to take down Captain America  _for_ her - which, had Wanda stepping in on K's behalf before K herself could hear such offers. Which was good for his recruits' health.

Erik had been deep in thought for a long while as he tried to find a way to address K's wandering mind when Wanda came in almost as silent as the little feral. "You need to let her breathe," Wanda told him. "Give her some time to do something alone, or you know she'll be worthless."

Erik considered her for a moment. "What did you have in mind?"

"She's an infiltration expert," Wanda said. "Send her to do something that lets her stretch that training."

"I know her files said that, but she hasn't given us much to go off of," Erik said.

"You've kept her almost as close as you do Lorna," Wanda said. "You can't expect her to get anything done if she has to be with you for every mission. If you want trust and loyalty - you need to give it, too."

When Erik seemed reluctant to consider it, Wanda shifted her tactics slightly. "And if she doesn't return when she's supposed to, it won't be hard for you to find her anyhow."

He let out a breath at that and nodded his head. "I'll give her a scouting job," he said finally. "And a month to do it."

Wanda smiled and kissed his cheek. "Thank you. The boys will miss her, but knowing her, I'm sure she'll bring them back something to thrill them."

* * *

Of course, Wanda was right. That was exactly what K needed. She had a panic button in case she needed help and all went south, though she was sure that the purpose of that was more to keep tabs on her than anything else.

He had sent her to find out the patterns of the individual Avengers - something she had little interest in reporting back on. Especially since she'd already decided that the Avengers were off limits. After the nasty trick Erik had pulled with Captain America, her tolerance for anything that was designed to take out Avengers was next to nothing. What Erik also didn't know though, was that K had heard much of his planning that had been made behind closed doors with Pietro and Emma Frost - and she knew that very soon, Erik was going to make a full press on the Avengers.

So the very idea that she was gathering intel on them so that Erik could take them out …  _after_ she'd reiterated again that she wanted nothing to do with harming Avengers - well. It did more than just not sit well with her. With all that in mind, K made up her plan and set it to action.

K was sitting in a cafe in a pink sundress and dark glasses, her hair pulled up into a neat updo. She was sipping on a cappuccino as she waited for her mark to step out of the building. She'd been sure to dress as nicely as possible, and though it was getting her a bit of attention from a few passerbys it wasn't the usual terror and apprehension, so even that was a welcome change.

The outdoor part of the cafe where K was seated was right next door to a newstand that was frequented by none other than Steve Rogers, and she was close to the wrought iron separator where she knew she'd be able to catch his attention. It was just a matter of time. The man was nothing if not a creature of habit - and K was going to make sure that he knew he was predictable.

She reapplied her lipstick and sighed as she waited, until ten minutes past his usual time, a very serious and downtrodden looking Rogers came toward the newstand - already pulling out his wallet to buy a few papers.

She waited until he had them in hand before she spoke up. "I don't suppose Captain America might have a few moments to spare?" K asked, almost holding her breath as she waited for his answer.

He stopped cold and frowned as he gave her a once over, though she could see he hadn't quite made up his mind yet. " _Please_ , it's important," K said, even taking her sunglasses off so he could look her in the eyes.

Steve finally nodded slowly. "Fine," he said. "What is it now? Another proposal like  _Zero Tolerance_? I already have my team looking into it."

"I know you do," she said, nodding. "And I'm glad to hear that, but this isn't about that at all. This is about your team." She reached under her chair and pulled out a purse then very carefully opened it up. "Erik wants to take your team out. Not just out of the spotlight -  _out_."

Steve frowned, but he was nodding all the same as he stepped around the wrought iron fence to take the seat across from her. "I wish I could say I was surprised," he admitted.

She locked her jaw and took a moment to choose her words. "I didn't know he was going to pull what he did with you."

Steve let out a sigh. "I'm not too worried about image; I told you. I'd rather make sure we're doing what's right and getting rid of these  _camps_."

"It's not just the image," she said with a little growl. "I had no intention of fighting you - and I sure wasn't going to go down like  _that_ if I had to. That wasn't me." She let out a little breath and went back to her purse. "All of you are being watched for patterns and daily routines. Your friend Tony is at the top of Erik's list, though. And I'll be damned if I stand by to watch him pull his stupid magnet trick on anyone that can avoid it."

Steve froze when he realized what she was saying. "That suit of his," he breathed out.

K nodded at that and met his gaze. "I know your friend has been working on a polymer and some ceramic based materials that are just as strong as titanium, but … he needs to take another look at ICP's to replace the wiring." She took out a little piece of black high density plastic and offered it to him. "Erik has been having power surges. They are strong enough that his own forces can't communicate when he's screwing up the polarity in their communicators. He's not entirely in control of himself, so there's no warning when it happens. This was his tech division's answer to step around it. Your friend will know what to do with it, or how to make a better version of it, I'm sure."

Steve's eyebrows were high as he wordlessly took the plastic, examining it for a good long time before he finally looked back up at her. "I guess I don't understand," he said at last, leaning toward her. "What are you doing on his team if you're going to do this kind of thing for us?"

K bit her lip and put the sunglasses back on, though she didn't rush off right away, instead taking a moment to breathe. He waited patiently for her to answer, but it was clear she wasn't going to expand much when she got to her feet and picked up her purse, the tip already on the table. "It's pretty simple," she said, before she turned to walk away. "I don't have a choice in it. But like you, I'm not going to stand by and watch people die that don't deserve it. I'm just trying to do the best I can. Good luck."

Steve frowned, but K was already gone by then, and he simply closed his hand around the plastic before he got to his feet, the newspaper long forgotten as he headed toward the tower. Tony needed to look at this and tell him what he could do about what K had said.

* * *

Since she'd been recruited, a large part of K's 'job' in Magneto's group had been to find people before Magneto got paranoid about her loyalty, and though he was giving her a little leeway again, it wasn't much. She could find all kinds of people for him that she had no qualms about pointing out - like those that were involved in Weapon X or the MRD. But what was most pressing to Erik in the past few weeks was for her to find the X-Men. He had plans, she knew. She'd seen them. The 'join or die' ideology that he was toying with using was not one she wanted to be a part of … and so far, every single time Erik had tried that route with them, he'd come back far more worse for wear than any of the X-Men had.

More than that, she had no desire to help him stop Xavier and his group from doing all the good that they were. Reports had come in from all sides on how they'd been saving mutants in trouble and pulling innocent people on both sides out of danger when it would blow up in their faces. She just didn't see why Erik would want to crush a potential ally. And both men had said they were old friends … it made no sense.

Even if they didn't agree on the method, the end result … K sighed and pushed back from the computer, pinching the bridge of her nose. This was idiotic. She wasn't going to lead Erik to the X-Men. Not when she knew they were travelling with kids. Lots. of kids.

K frowned at the screen after a moment then held her breath as she opened up a new window in the more private browser then started to dig in earnest. Even if she wasn't going to give them to Erik … that didn't mean she didn't know how to find them.

And if Erik was going to continue to be an idiot, she knew she'd want a way to get a hold of them and either ferry kids their way, or warn them to move the kids. It didn't take too terribly long, all things considered. But when she found what she was sure had to be a contact  _phone number_ … she simply memorized it and marked it as a dead end.

She knew she wouldn't be able to track down the X-Men every single time. But if she had a means to contact them - that might actually work.

K pushed back from the computer, a few places in mind on where she could scout out and double check where she thought the X-Men were - and if she was slick, then she would be able to direct Erik's men to a false location.

No one blinked as K left the compound. It was part of her job, after all, to come and go and look into everyone they needed intel on - and it was best, they'd all discovered, to simply keep out of her way and let her do her thing. So naturally, she'd use that to the best of her abilities to her own interest's best end.

* * *

Translations:

 _malen'kiy dyadya_  - little uncle (Russian)


	7. Seeking Power

"Are you  _sure_ this woman isn't a friendly?" Tony asked as he started studied the analysis in front of him that his AI had completed. Steve could see the gears in Tony's head working already. The light in his eyes was dancing already with the possibilities. "This is alien tech, Rogers. No one shares alien tech."

"I don't know what to tell you, Tony. I can't figure her out for the life of me," Steve said as he leaned against one of the bar stools in Tony's lab. "She's working for Magneto. Wolverine said that from the intel he found on her, she was a weapon X experiment until Magneto found her."

"I don't know, Rogers," Tony said, still almost wide-eyed at the possibilities in front of him. "Looks to me like she's a fan." He turned toward Steve and flashed him a brilliant smile. "This is good. All of this. I can use this."

"Well get to work," Steve said. "She hasn't given me a bad tip so far, and if we're thinking tactically, it's a good move anyhow. Looking back, I don't know why Magneto hasn't already crushed you."

The smile fell off of Tony's features and he stepped back from the glowing read outs floating around him. "I'm not complaining, but … considering the fact that he made a move to take you down a few pegs in the public's opinion-"

"I don't care about that, Tony."

"Maybe not, but it was a blow whether you want to admit it or not." Tony scoffed. "Bad Boy isn't a good look on you Rogers. Stick with the All-American Star Spangled schtick." He turned back to the analysis when Steve gave him a very unamused glare. "She did me a favor with this though. And though I'm not complaining about it, I'd like to know why."

"Maybe she just prefers the Avengers over the X-Men," Steve said. "Cyclops said they had a few mixed-signal encounters with her already."

"Maybe he just doesn't know how to read the signals," Tony muttered half under his breath. He was listening … but he was busy fabricating already. The preliminary tests on the alien compound she'd given them were more than encouraging. It was superior to most standard conductive metals. He was watching the readouts fly past, his imagination whirring - already figuring out ways to improve what he was seeing … even though as it stood, she'd given them enough in the sample to wire a suit and two spare helmets.

Tony scrubbed his hand over his mouth and let out a disbelieving little laugh before he gestured wordlessly to the screens and beamed at Steve.

"So it's good, I take it?" Steve said, his chin tipped down and his expression clearly one of confused hope.

Tony's smile cracked through the smirk and he laughed as he nodded. "Yeah. Yeah … I've got Jarvis running new analysis to replicate and improve, and she gave me enough for a suit, testing and a little to spare."

Steve looked pleasantly surprised. "All that from that little lump?"

"Yeah," Tony said, laughing in spite of himself. "I can have a suit made and testing by the weekend. Should be up and running full steam by this time next week."

Steve let out a breath of relief. "Then she did more than just tip us off."

"Oh yeah," Tony agreed. "Still wanna have a talk with her though."

"Talking involves words, Tony," Steve said as he turned to leave. He'd seen  _that_ look on his friend's face more than enough times to know he might not be entirely businesslike in his mindset. Besides, he was better left on his own when he was in a mood like this - and Steve was sure that Scott and the X-Men would want to know that K had just managed to save Tony's life. Even if it was precautionary, it was a weak spot in their defenses that Tony had already been trying to correct, and she'd cut down his research time dramatically.

* * *

For months, Erik had been accumulating powerful mutants. It was rare to find one that fell into his idea of usefulness, but the ones he had so far were substantial.

He rarely repeated mutants with the same mutation … and if he found one that was higher functioning in any category, then that was who he kept closer to him. He was adamant about finding the most powerful telepath he could - hoping that they would be able to go toe to toe with Xavier and his Phoenix. But Erik honestly didn't have much faith in that being the case. If his old friend was good at anything - it was keeping some of the most powerful telepaths to himself.

That didn't mean that Erik was without his defenses though - and the telepath he'd roped into his cause was a clever one. She wasn't as powerful as Charles or , but … she used her skills in ways that those two would never dream. And one interesting thing about Miss Frost was that she had managed to find a way to piggyback on the good work that Xavier was doing in seeking out mutants. While Xavier was mostly concerned with getting  _all_ of them in trouble to safety.

Emma was particularly proud of herself at discovering a weakness in Cerebro … and monopolizing on it. And it was so simple that Erik couldn't help but be amused that his old friend had overlooked it all these years.

The machine boosted telepathic powers … and the stronger the telepathic reach, the easier it was for other powerful telepaths to follow, not unlike a neon light glowing in the darkness, as Emma had put it. Which simply meant that all Miss Frost needed to seek out the most powerful mutants was to get somewhere peaceful, relax and reach out to spy alongside whoever was using Cerebro.

When she found one, she'd send word to Magneto directly, though he didn't allow her to breach his mental defenses. In most cases, he'd go himself, or send in Pietro or Wanda - depending on what their power set was, but for the ones that they couldn't quite figure out ahead of time, that was when they sent in K. Which was how she found herself near the edge of the Black Forest in Germany, seeking out a powerful mutant. Unfortunately, all that Miss Frost could give for K to search by was that this person was a man. Which did  _nothing_ to help her out.

Not that K was complaining too much now that she was once again alone and on terra firma. It just meant she had more time to herself, and being able to speak anything but English was a welcome change of pace.

The little town she was looking around was mostly full of locals - though a few people from neighboring towns were mulling about since the circus was in town - and that was why she was there as well. She suspected someone in the circus for the pattern that Emma had found - several cities in the same schedule as this travelling group over the past few weeks, so it was as good a place as any to start. And if nothing else, good for a laugh.

The performers themselves were a mixed bag. Several were clearly mutants- the strong man was inhumanly large, and there was a woman who seemed like she could be Reed Richard's sister for another. The rest, however ... most of them seemed perfectly normal - and unfortunately, K did not have any special means of determining who was a mutant or not - outside of simple observation. Though, when she turned the corner to find a very small blue boy with a long tail, pointed ears, and yellow eyes - she knew she had to be getting warm. She leaned against a tentpole and watched as the little guy giggled and flipped gracefully through the air only to land in the net and scramble up again for more.

But he was far too young to be on her list, so she instead turned her attention to those around him. There were several other acrobats - not a one looked anything like the young boy though, so she shifted her focus elsewhere. Across the way, there was what appeared to be a fortune teller, who was also watching the acrobats go through their routine. The woman fit the stereotypical 'gypsy' … long skirt, white shirt and tight, fitted bodice. She was adorned with plenty of jewelry and wore shawls around her hips, and a headscarf over magnificent curly black hair … though the ram's horns over her ears were suspect to say the least.

The youngest acrobats rushed to the fortune teller when they were through with their practice, though she had to call out to the little blue boy to get him out of the ropes and net to join the group, and he looked downright disappointed, blue ears drooping along with his muttered, " _Ja, Mama._ "

That in itself had K smirking at the little guy. He was clearly having way too much fun to stop when she wanted him to. "What a cutie," she muttered to herself before she started around the long way to see what the story was with the little group. Even if they didn't look alike, this woman was tied to the boy, and with a physical mutation in play on at least the boy, her suspicions on this fortune teller rose significantly when he had called her 'mama'.

She found the little enclave of performers far away from the bulk of the trailers, on the quieter outer edge of things. The boys were piling out of their trailer - freshly changed into their performance clothes and trying not to get caught rough housing before the woman and the little blonde girl came out - brush in hand as she tamed the blonde's hair and styled it neatly into a high bun. The boys barely got a brush dragged through - though it looked as if that was all they'd hold still for anyhow. As the boys straightened up, the little girl got a bit of makeup on, and a pleased smile from the woman before she finally nodded her head at the three of them.

With that, the kids scrambled over to the other acrobats together - though the show wasn't set to start for another hour, so K decided to follow the mother and see if she could get a handle on her. As she'd suspected, she'd set up a fortune teller booth, and there was no reason not to take advantage. It was a solid chance to get a closer look, and if anything out of the ordinary happened, it'd be a dead giveaway. Besides,  _many_ mutants used their gifts in this way - sideshows and performers that would call it magic and make a little money to live. She had dealt with this in the past. It was almost a calling card by this point.

The woman with ram's horns smiled when K approached her tent. "Come in, come in! A pretty lady always has questions if they are clever. Come! Sit, my dear. What knowledge would you seek?" she sang out the words in a voice that was more faraway-sounding than the one she used to talk to her children.

"I'm not sure I know the right answer to that question," K replied as she stepped into the tent. The place was exactly what she had expected from a fortune teller. Glowing crystal ball in the center of her scarf draped table, tapestries hanging around her, candles and incense burning and filling the canvas tent up with their sickly sweet perfume.

The woman leaned forward slightly at that. "There are always many questions to choose from. But wisdom is knowing what knowledge to seek. Do you yearn for love - or is it power that tempts you?"

"Oh," K said, entertained at her angle - though not entirely surprised. "Why not both?"

The woman chuckled. "A rare combination - and that much more precious when you find it," she agreed, holding out her hand for K's. "Let us see what fate has in store."

K let out a breath and took the seat across from her then held out her hand. She wasn't entirely at ease with the way the incense in the tent was interfering with her sense of smell, but that in itself wasn't odd in booths like this, so she ignored it for the time being as the woman hummed and sang under her breath in a language K couldn't quite identify. The fortune teller seemed almost excited, gently running a finger down the lines on K's hand.

"Hmm," the woman said, frowning at her hand. "You have a strong, long lifeline that speaks of many adventures. Yet I sense much tribulation in your life as well."

"No rest for the wicked, I suppose," K said, trying not to smirk at the woman's appraisal so far.

The woman smirked lightly. "I see you have a strong will, and are more wise than others are willing to see," she said, delicately touching K's palm. She reached for K's other hand and her face lit up as she traced a few almost invisible lines near her pinkie finger. "Ah! There is the potential for many children, my dear. What fortune this shows for you." She leaned forward, still holding K's hand as her eyes positively danced with light. "Nothing is more fortuitous than children."

K let out a little involuntary sound of pure discomfort, but it was quickly passed by as the fortune teller continued, both of her hands holding K's. "But if it's power you seek, there too, you are in luck," she said, lifting her gaze from K's hand. "You will be surrounded by power throughout your life. But fate is replete with wicked surprises."

K tipped her head slightly, but didn't comment, careful not to react as she studied the woman, who was clearly studying her just as closely. She felt uneasy suddenly, but without solid context to base it on, she wasn't about to let anything show until she  _did_ know what, if any abilities this fortune teller had.

"Your love line, on the other hand…" The woman smiled. "Every woman wishes to hear that she has a strong line with romance and passion. Yours … it is strong, but it crosses your head and your fate. You will always have admirers, but ..." She clasped K's hands in hers and met her gaze. "When the opportunity arises, and a man catches your interest, you must  _seize_ him. Do not hesitate or you may well miss your chance."

"He'd have to be something spectacular," K said.

The woman finally released K's hand, though she was watching her gently as she began to shuffle the deck of cards at her elbow. She passed K the cards and told her to cut the deck, which she did before the fortune teller began to lay a few out.

"There is someone close to you that is prone to sudden outbursts," she said. "This person is not to be trusted. Even if you think they mean well." The woman paused to hold K's gaze for a moment before she continued. "You are losing your credibility by standing with or against others. Do not be reluctant to stand up for what you believe in, my dear. In many things, you are your own worst enemy."

The next card was the thief - and the woman paused as she frowned at it. "This is a warning. That all that is stolen does not have to be physically taken. And not all valuables are things. Your time … your energy … your talent for drawing power to you … those  _all_ are your gifts that should not be thrown aside or used by others."

For all the smoke and mirrors, K was uncomfortable with how close to home the fortune teller was actually hitting. K took a breath, her head almost swimming with the perfumes and smoke in the tent as the woman continued her predictions, though K was having a bit of trouble concentrating on all of it, since most of it from there on was pretty pedestrian and vague: "You have a great deal of unused capacity which you have not turned to your advantage." and "A strong and cunning dark haired man will prove to be more than a simple distraction."

"You still seem to have so many questions. Won't you ask them?" The woman said imploringly.

K considered her for a moment, still unsure. "I don't suppose it would be too unusual to hear that I'm looking for someone, so I won't bore you. I'm just hoping to find him sooner than later." She bit her lip, realizing that it sounded like she was eager to find the dark haired man that the fortune teller had just gone on about. "That's a fair question … will I be searching for long?"

The woman laughed. "Ah, that is a common enough question," she said. She took K's hand in both of hers and peered closer, then closed her eyes as she muttered in that same odd language for a long moment. "You say that you seek power…and yes, you will find it." She nodded. "You will never wait long to find power, my dear. When the fates favor it … it may well find you first."

"Then I suppose that's good luck for what I'm up to," K said, smirking at her. She reached into her pocket with her free hand to dig out her payment.

As K turned to leave, the woman called out to her once more. "A word of warning," she said. "If you continue searching for power, you will not always like what you find."

"I've already learned that," K said. "But thank you."

"Of course … you do not seek power for  _yourself_. You desire peace … which you will not find as long as you let others dictate your desires."

K paused, then peeled off another twenty mark bill to hand to the fortune teller, who looked shocked for the extra cash. "That might be the most accurate thing you've said to me," K said before she stepped out of the tent and took in a deep breath to clear her head out, slowly walking toward the big top. It was going to be another thickly scented affair in there, and she wanted to clear her head properly before her nose was filled up with the scents of animals and sweat. She had to stop short as a long string of giggling local kids ran past, nearly knocking into her as they did so, but for the most part, everyone was beginning to gather up to go inside.

She found a seat off to the left and at the very top of the bleachers where she could watch the crowd at large. She could think of a dozen things she could be doing that were better use of her time, but here she was all the same … waiting for the tiny circus to start up their show.

The show itself wasn't bad - but it wasn't overly impressive either. That all fell to the wayside of course, when the acrobats came out. Clearly that was where most of their effort was, and K was properly entranced with the little blue boy, who, to her relief was actually a proud part of the show. Clearly, everywhere wasn't as bad as Erik made it out to be if this little boy was able to be as happy as he was and still be in the public eye.

But few seemed to be anything of note outside of the young blue boy. She was clearly disappointed by the time the show ended, and she stayed in her seat as the crowd rushed to empty out of the bleachers. She was going to have to stalk these people until she saw someone  _do_ something of note.

After the show was over, K honestly didn't see much of a difference in the crowd of people either. No one compelling, with only the little family of acrobats really standing out. But aside from a physical mutation, she didn't see anything in the men that Frost would have been so excited about.

"I'm going to skin that idiotic bottle blonde," she muttered to herself as she climbed down the bleachers. "Go to Germany - find someone new.  _Sohn einer Hundin_."

She was just about ready to call the night a wash and start her longer term observations when she heard a pair of voices further out from the rest of the group, clearly meaning to find some privacy. One voice she recognized as the fortune teller, but the other was one she hadn't come across yet.

K frowned to herself and out of sheer curiosity, began to creep toward the voices - silent and unseen. The two of them didn't slow down until they were near the trailers that were at the furthest edge of the clearing by the trees.

"The boy has a natural curiosity," the woman was saying as K got closer. "An interest in learning that I can only assume he got from you. He seems drawn to danger as well."

"Naturally," the man's voice said, sounding entirely pleased. "And aside from the unfortunate color, has he gained anything from his mother?"

"Not that I have seen so far, but he is young," the woman said. "He has none of her ruthlessness. In fact…" She let her voice drop. "The boy seems positively  _enchanted_ by religion - not the mystic arts, but he has an affinity for finding the local churches when we stop."

"You'll need to work on that," he said seriously. "An interest in it historically is one thing …"

"He seems to scare off most of the priests he approaches. That problem may solve itself on its own," the woman pointed out. "After all, the family resemblance…"

"I look forward to when he's grown then," he said with a chuckle. "Now, if you'll excuse me…" There was a peculiar sort of sound and a smell like sulfur before K felt a shadow over her shoulder and turned to find the man smiling at her - tall, fairly handsome, with dark hair and an almost manic expression that passed for a smile. "You have been listening to concerns that aren't your affairs."

"I have," she admitted, only tipping her chin up as she looked him over. "So how did you know? I've never been caught like this before."

"You are not the only one with secrets," he said, looking her over more carefully now. "Such a lovely thing to be in so much trouble."

"And what trouble am I supposed to be in?" she asked before she gestured to him. "It wouldn't be advisable to start a fight with me."

He laughed at that. "Oh, not from me, my dear," he said as he offered his arm. "I meant the various people that would enslave you. You have seen quite a few, haven't you?"

She didn't bother hiding the surprise at his statement. "More than my share, I think," she said, frowning slightly. "Historically, that doesn't work out well for them in the end," she replied, though she paused before she tipped her head, her hand held up near her chest. "Where would we be going?"

He chuckled lightly. "I thought you might like a quiet walk in the woods. And you  _are_ looking for power, aren't you?"

She hesitated just a moment before she closed the gap and took his arm. "As are you, I'm sure," she said before she bit her lip and let him lead her off into the dark forest.

He laughed low, and throaty as he covered her hand on his arm with his. "I  _have_ power. I only seek more of it. There is quite the difference," he said. "But then, you knew that - you came here to find me, even if you didn't know it at the time."

"If that's the case, then you've saved me weeks of the same show. What is it you do …" K asked, shaking her head slightly. "I'm at a loss. I don't know your name. Usually I have that much to go from."

"Sir Leonard Vrykolakas," he said with a bow.

She paused and frowned up at him. "No it's not."

He raised an eyebrow at her and then started to laugh. "Oh, you are full of surprises," he said. "Of course, you're right, but it is the name I'm using now. Surely you can relate. Or will you give me the name  _you_ were born with?" he asked, one eyebrow raised.

"I would if I was able," she said. "But I'll take that for now."

"And you?" he asked. "What name will you give me to address you, my dear?"

"K is fine. It passes for most."

He nodded thoughtfully. "Well then, K, tell me - what is your most excellent plan to sway me to your recruitment? I know that is why you were sent here."

"Honestly, I'm a pretty terrible salesman," she said shrugging lightly though he made a face that said clearly that he didn't believe it. "My buy line is easy - and if it's a no, then I won't take it personally." She took a breath. "If we were to dive right to it, I'd simply ask you if you're aware of what's going on with Magneto and his group and if you'd like to join the cause. If not … fair enough. I won't pressure you."

"I think you'll find I am not a follower," he said, tipping his head toward her. "Especially not to a man who believes he has more power than he does."

"Then I have my answer," she said, smiling openly at him for his frank answer. "I'm sorry to waste your time, Sir Vrykolakas."

"Not at all," he said, his smile returning. "I rarely consider my time wasted when spent with an intriguing woman like you." He smiled a bit more and pulled her off the trail deeper into the woods and well away from anyone's sight. "It's rare to find a woman that isn't preoccupied with playing asinine games. You've been so direct. It's refreshing. I don't suppose you would consider a counter-offer? A shift of your loyalty in exchange for protection from a madman's idiocy."

K blinked up at him, completely ignoring the setting around them. "I suppose that depends on the terms," she replied, intrigued in spite of herself. "What kind of counter offer could you come up with to turn my head?"

He smiled wider at that and let his tone slip into something completely silky. The tone of his voice had managed to cut out all other ambient sounds, leaving her nothing else to focus on but him. "Perhaps you would prefer Magneto dead. Or his knowledge of you erased," he said easily as he took her hand. "It would be an easy thing for me to accomplish for you. And you see, all I ask is that you stay with me a few days." He smiled. "I'm sure you'd find that you would enjoy our time together."

She smiled at that but tipped her head again. "Remove his knowledge of me? That sounds an awful lot like magic," she said, chuckling lightly.

"But of course," he said seriously as he turned to face her more fully. "Or did you think I was simply a paltry mutant on display at this circus?"

Her smile slipped and she frowned at that. "What other category is there?" K asked. "I was sent to find powerful mutants, and considering you've been picking my mind fairly seamlessly, you must be that at least. You never did say what you did, but I'm guessing telepathy at least."

He laughed. "Magic, as you so correctly guessed," he said. "I know you have seen that kind of power, given Magneto's family."

"I have," she said slowly, searching his face for a lie. "But I thought that Wanda used probability manipulation." She frowned a little deeper when she saw he was perfectly serious. "What  _exactly_ is it that you want from me?"

He smiled a little more as he tipped her chin up with one finger. "You are a powerful and lovely woman," he said. "And what I see of your memories tells me not only of your strength, but the fact that you would defend a child  _fiercely_." He chuckled. " _That_  is what I want, my dear. I will free you - if you simply agree to take my seed and bear me a child."

"Oh," she blinked up at him for a moment and quickly shook her head, though she didn't pull back enough to slip free of his hand. "That's … no."

He frowned, losing some of his earlier charm. "Is it really such a heavy price to pay for your freedom?"

"I think it could be," she said. "I don't know you - or what's behind that motivation … I just met you, and though I appreciate the straightforwardness ….I'm …. I have to say no."

"I think you misunderstand my offer," he said, starting to narrow his eyes even as he ran his hand up her arm to rest on her shoulder. "You could be anonymous again. I could erase you from his mind- you would go back to obscurity and never again be a simple plaything for anyone who would try to ensnare you."

"Outside of you, of course," she said.

He smiled. "You would find that I am an agreeable master," he said, reaching out to brush the loose lock of hair behind her ear. "And you are already so well attuned to the next generation. I would not look over your shoulder. I only wish to peek in on the little one on occasion, as you've seen me doing here."

She gestured back to the tent and the circus at large. "The sweet little blue one? Is that what you meant by the unfortunate color? I don't see the resemblance."

"Oh, of course not," he said, laughing lightly before, all at once, his form shifted, and he looked much more like the little boy. He had the same long pointed ears and tail. Instead of blue, he was red from head to toe, though his hair and goatee remained black. "But then, you did not see me as myself before."

She clearly wasn't expecting the change and though he was still close, and smiling, she took a moment to respond. "I prefer your true form," she said. "But I still have to respectfully decline."

He tipped his head to the side. "Mm," he said. "I think that I may have been a bit too hasty to offer. Clearly you're not ready to deal yet ..." He shook his head lightly. "Pity. The sooner you slip his grasp, the easier your life will be. Perhaps another time."

"If I don't kill him myself first," she conceded, though the fact that he said he wasn't a mutant was still ringing in her ears, and she did  _not_ want to have a pissed off …a  _whatever_ he was and have him holding a grudge. "I won't say I'm not tempted."

He couldn't help but smile at that - and his eyes flashed with fire. "Should you change your mind, you need only find my dear Margali, and tell her you wish to speak to me. She has the magical means to find me quickly," he said, still holding her hand. "A few enchanting nights for your freedom - think about it, my dear."

"But it's not really  _just_  a few nights, though, is it?" K said, her expression a bit hard, as it often was when she caught someone in a terrible lie.

"You're overthinking it." He chuckled lightly, once again, tipping her head up. "You already care for children. I'm sure you'd take to it easily once you had your own. But if you were really so adverse, you could always send them off as you've done with the other little one you found."

"But he wasn't mine," she said, though she couldn't help but stare at him. "And I still don't know your real name."

He smirked a little wider. "What would you need my name for?" He lifted her hand and gently kissed her knuckles, smiling at her before he held that hand in both of his. "I've made a million deals in my lifetime, my dear girl. I can be patient." He finally let go of her hand and bowed once more. "Until next time," he said before he simply vanished in a swirl of red smoke that left the same scent of brimstone behind.

It took a moment for K to get her bearings, her eyes closed as she tried to force back the involuntary shiver. The guy was smooth. Too smooth, and he knew all the right buttons to push and  _how_. But … he also let slip that the fortune teller was an  _actual_ witch, and the little blue boy wasn't hers.

So now it was simply a matter of how to deal with that. The idea of that little sweetheart being molded into another …  _Sir Liarpants_ was not appealing at all. Not when his true nature was obviously so sweet. She was making her way through the woods back toward the circus - because of course the guy had walked her out to an overly remote section of forest - when she heard a small, muted explosion ahead.

* * *

Translation from German:  _Sohn einer Hundin_  - Son of a bitch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, so I'm impatient.


	8. Little Boy Blue Is Lost In The Wood

As K made it to the edge of the trees, a fireball rose high up into the night sky, illuminating the whole area beyond the big top and trailers for a few seconds before smaller, rumbling booms began to echo through the forests. She swore, looking to her panic button and considering hitting it - until she saw that much of the pandemonium was at the hands of a fire-controlling mutant pushing back the rioting humans. It was just getting out of hand, and that … well. Erik's group had more than enough instances of things getting out of hand under their belt. She really didn't want to rush back either. She hadn't been out on this mission for long, after all.

As she rushed ahead, people were scattering in all directions, and it was clear that the locals weren't nearly as welcoming to the circus as it had first seemed. A lynch mob was forming in response to the fireballs coming from one of the performers. The stupid part was that they were wielding torches and throwing homemade ordinances toward a mutant who was clearly invulnerable to fire.

When she got up to the trailers, the witch was bleeding from her side and one of her horns was broken off. She had already sent the kids to hide, though all three of them looked as though they thought it was the last time they'd see her as they rushed off in tears.

K started toward her to try and help her up when the witch began to sing out a song - low and in that same odd tongue, that ended with a rising whirlwind that swirled the fire into a vortex, picking up anyone that was coming toward her or the kids. Screams were hidden in the roaring wind of the fire vortex. As it grew in size and ferocity, it began to pluck up trailers and the tent … until very suddenly, everything fell and all that was left in the witch's place was her fortuneteller's outfit as if she'd simply disappeared leaving the clothes behind. The mob dissipated after that, leaving what performers were left behind to pick up the pieces.

K watched for a long moment, in plain shock at the obvious display of magic by the woman that had been walking so casually with Vrykolakas. There was power there, alright. But it was clearly something that Magneto wasn't prepared to handle either. If the fortune teller had the power to do  _that_ on a word … she was likely equal to Wanda in strength. Which was a considerable thing when one took into mind that Wanda, for all her power, had very little control. Yet this Margali … Margali knew exactly what she was doing. And if she was just a means of talking to Vrykolakas, then he was something  _much_ more substantial.

She found herself breathing deeply, her heart racing as she leaned against a trailer as the crowds and the smoke began to clear. Little was left of the circus, but when K gathered her nerve again and turned to watch - and try to see who and what was left, she had to take pause when she saw the two blonde acrobats halfway wrapped around the ringmaster in tears.

It was clear that what was left of the crowd was clearly upset at more than just the mutants they thought were there. The gypsies that were part of the show was a big source of hatred, and there was simply much more in play than a simple riot after Margali's display of power. At any rate, she was very sure that a foreigner interjecting herself into this climate would only end one way. In spite of her own instinct of self preservation, she was bothered that the little blue boy was nowhere to be seen.

The remainder of the circus was moving on, and still, K hadn't seen the little blue boy anywhere in the mess. She wondered for a moment if Vrykolakas had picked his son up to get him out of the trouble, but … that ...didn't seem like a move he'd make after so callously suggesting that she could drop off another of his children in someone else's care.

She found her way to what was left of the trailer that belonged to the witch and took a moment to drink in the scents it held, though even there it was hard to ignore the remaining traces of brimstone mixed with the charred heat from the fire. K closed her eyes tighter and cleared her mind as she tipped her head up to try and sift though the scents better before she started following the scent trails that zigged and zagged all through the wreckage. Two scents were nearly identical … those had to be the twins, particularly since the third scent that ran parallel to them had a faint mixture of spices, myrrh, hyssop … and brimstone. Even without the brimstone, the scent was one that was clearly familial to Vrykolakas, and the boy was still young. And sweet … and judging by the ammonia that hung in the air mixed thickly with the scent, he was terrified. So she turned down his scent trail where it split from the blondes … and shook her head as she saw it was headed into the dark, twisting Black Forest ahead.

"If he ends up in that same spot that his father had me …." K pushed back the thought and nosed down the trail, walking calmly and slowly as not to attract too much attention. But, she could move a little quicker when she got out and away from the circus and into the woods. The trail was easy to follow, particularly since very little of the notes in that scent belonged anywhere near the German forest. After a long, careful track, she finally found the source of the scent - hidden away in a hollow tree. She didn't want to startle him - and she could smell how scared he was even without knowing someone was out there.

" _Hallo_ ," K called out in a sing-song tone. " _Du musst dich nicht verstecken_." When he didn't come out, she made her way closer and crouched down, smiling gently at him before she quietly offered him her hand. "I won't hurt you."

The little boy was clearly still scared as he sized her up. She saw that his tail was wrapped around his waist, and he was holding on to the end of it. " _Nein_ ," he said quietly, shaking his head. "No. Please."

She slipped down to a seated position, her legs folded to the side as she leaned on one arm, trying for the most relaxed body position she could manage without laying down. " _Ich werde dich nicht verletzen._ I won't hurt you. I promise." K dipped her head down to catch his gaze. "What's your name? I'm K." She rested her hand over her heart as she said her name.

" _Ich bein Kurt_ ," he said, still watching her carefully with his bright yellow eyes - half obscured by dark curls.

She smiled warmer at that. " _Hallo, Kurt."_

" _Guten abend,_ " he said. " _Du sprichst_   _Deutsche_."

"Do you speak English?" she asked, hoping that he knew at least some.

"I know… little English," he admitted, drawing his shoulders up in a shrug.

" _Das is gut._ Very good," she said. "Are you hurt? Or just lost?  _Verletzt? Hat verloren?_ "

The little boy started to slowly come untucked as he shook his head. "Hiding," he whispered, holding out his hand so she could see where some of the fur was wet and matted where something had hit him.

Her eyebrows went up at that as she whispered out 'oh' that came out clearly and quietly. "Can I help?  _Kann ich helfen?_ "

"I … I do not know," he said slowly. " _Sie denken, ich bin ein Dämon_."

" _Nein,"_ she said automatically, shaking her head lightly even though her thoughts were drifting back to the red-furred demon she knew was his father. And that seemed a very likely explanation, all things considered. " _Engelchen."_

He smiled at that and shook his head, withdrawing his arm. "No," he said. "Acrobat."

She nodded. "Demons don't fly so gracefully through the air as you do. Would you like me to show you how to find food in the woods, little acrobat?"

He watched her for a long time. " _Was ist mit Mama?_ "

K paused, wondering how to explain that the woman had disappeared in a plume of smoke and fire that she'd created herself. "The circus was moving on. I didn't see her.  _Sie waren alle weg._  Some were hurt though."

At that, Kurt frowned and tucked into himself. " _Sie haben mama verletzt_."

" _Sie waren nicht gut_ ," she agreed.

Kurt nodded, his chin on his knees. "I … am lost," he admitted.

"You can come with me," K offered.

"Where?"

She leaned forward with a troublemaking sparkle in her eyes. " _Wo auch immer Sie wünschen._  Wherever you'd like."

He smiled at that, almost like he couldn't help it. "I want…" He paused, looking for the right word. "I want to see America."

"Then you're in luck. I am an American," she said, tipping her head.

"You speak  _Deutsche_."

" _Ja, und_   _Svenska_ ,  _et français,_ and others, too …"

" _Hei_!" He smiled at her. "You - do you go to many many places?"

"Lately,  _ja_ ," she said with a little chuckle.

He glanced back toward the smoke still rising from where the circus had been. "I… I do not want anyone to hurt because I am blue," he said at last.

"No one will hurt me," she promised. "And I won't let them hurt you either."

He nodded slowly and then crawled out of his little space in the tree. " _Ja_. Okay. Where do we go?"

She offered him her hand again, sure not to react to his three fingers instead of five. "Why don't we start with a little walk in the woods …. We can find a place with less trouble then make our way to America." She leaned closer. "I think I even know of a place that you can stay that will teach you English."

"That is good," he said, tentatively taking her hand.

"I can protect you, my young friend," she told him. "You're not the only one that's different."

Kurt nodded at that, scrubbing the back of his hand over his face, before he simply let K lead the way away from the smoke.

* * *

K called Scott's private line once Kurt was asleep, though she didn't really start with a customary 'hello'. "Do any of you speak German?"

"How did - what kind of -  _what_?"

She pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a long, slow breath. "Hello, Scott. I'm sorry for the rude intro. I need to know if any of you know how to speak and understand German." She kept a very patient tone, and spoke clearly and slowly. "I am in Germany. I inadvertently ended up with a precious family-less German boy who is very clearly a mutant. But I'd prefer not to drag him up to Avalon." She glanced over to the peacefully sleeping boy, hoping that they'd go along with the mutant thing. She didn't  _know_ if he was a mutant, after all. But she was very sure that if she said she suspected him to be 'half demon' the answer would be 'no'.

There was a long pause on the other end before Scott spoke again. "I can ask. Does he know any English at all?"

"A little, but he's not very confident in his English," K admitted. "I'm working on it in the meantime."

"I think Wolverine knows it from the war, if nothing else, but I'll ask around," Scott promised.

"If you have a pencil, I'll give you the coordinates of where we'll be," she said.

"I'd like to set the coordinates," Scott said.

"That's fine," she said. "But it's just the two of us. They dropped me off here alone." She took a moment to give him her coordinates of where she was. "I don't have transportation, but if you give me a little lead in, I'll find a way to your spot. I'll come to you when you pick the place. Take your time - bring who you like to feel comfortable. And so you know, Erik doesn't know what I'm up to."

"Are you going to make a habit of this?" Scott asked.

K paused for a long moment, watching Kurt, and she frowned deeply, biting the inside of her cheek as her voice hardened a little. "If you don't want to help the kids I find -"

"Of course I want to help," Scott said, sounding almost insulted that she would think otherwise. "It's just unusual."

There was another long silence from her before she finally shook her head, her eyes closed tightly. "What the hell's unusual about it? You have a  _school_ don't you?"

"No one on Magneto's team has ever admitted we were better as a haven for mutants."

"They're egotistical, self serving idiots," she said with a clear tone of distaste.

"I won't fight you on that," Scott said. He let out a sigh that was audible to her. "We may not be there for a while."

"That's okay." She drew in a breath and nodded to herself. "Thank you. Take your time," K said. "He's with me, he's safe. We'll stay in that area, and you have this number, right?"

"And you apparently have mine."

She bit her lip and couldn't help but feel a little frustrated. "Really Scott, if it's a problem, I'll figure out something else."

"I've said I don't mind taking kids," Scott said, sounding irritated. "Just - never mind. I'll call you when we arrive. I'll tell you where to meet us then," he said before he simply hung up.

K stared at the phone for a moment after Scott had hung up then she leaned her head back against the wall behind her. She needed to figure out where she could take the kids when Scott inevitably got too mad at her to deal with her. And she was sure that was coming soon by the tone he was using.

Kurt sighed in his sleep, and K pressed the palm of her hand across her eyes before drawing in a deep, centering breath. Everything about this was a mess. But she couldn't see a good solution to any of it. Not yet, anyhow. She shifted how she was sitting and tried to get comfortable. The empty house she'd broken into would work for tonight, but they'd have to find something better as they put distance between themselves and the riot-ready people of Winzeldorf.

* * *

For the next few days, K spent a lot of time getting to know young Kurt, and she was sure to very carefully teach him more English just in case Wolverine didn't remember enough to help the boy, or if there weren't any other options for teachers on the team.

She taught him about some of the wild berries and things that were edible in the woods - wild strawberries and  _heidelbeeren_ along with which trees would bear fruit should he be hiking in the woods again. "Long ago, there was a law here that said before a young man was allowed to marry, he had to plant six fruit trees and six oaks." She pointed to some of the still-green fruit on an overgrown apple tree nearby. "You can almost always find fruit or nuts if you just look up."

When a storm started to roll in that threatened heavy rain, she picked Kurt up and headed for the nearest town. Kurt was clearly upset, afraid that they'd have trouble with the locals as had happened in the last town, but K promised that they would be fine, even going so far as to give him a piggyback ride when he got nervous at some of the looks they were getting.

But K's ears were sharp, and she wasn't going to take any flack from anyone saying rotten things about the sweet little boy.

She made her way to check into a place to sleep for the night and of course, the woman at the desk seemed reluctant to allow it. But K flashed a thick wad of cash at her and promised they'd be no trouble, and after a moment's hesitation, the woman gave them a room key. Of course, K paused and covered Kurt's ears with her hands before she leaned forward to level with the woman. "If anyone disturbs either of  _us_ , I will burn this place to ashes."

The woman nodded silently and K took Kurt's hand as he tried to uncover his ears. With one final warning look at the woman behind the counter, the two of them headed off to their little bungalow to settle in and wait.

Anyone that gave them trouble got a growl from K, and if they were overly obnoxious, she'd hold their gaze and pop the claws in one hand as her arm hung straight down. That in itself seemed to be plenty to get them to back off of the boy, and when he heard the growl, after he startled the first time, he couldn't seem to stop grinning at her after that whenever she'd let one slip out.

All in all, it did wonders for Kurt's outlook. To him - they all seemed nice, or at least tolerant, and for the first time in as long as Kurt could remember, there were no horrible names shouted at him while he was with K.

That evening it rained heavily, and K kept watch as little Kurt slept on - curled up in the middle of the bed and dead asleep to the world. He was blissfully unaware of any trouble, but she wasn't dropping her guard in the least.

Perhaps it was the lack of sleep - or the lack of a successful mission - but she was weighing everything out as she watched the boy sleep. Sir Vrykolakas' odd offer was ringing in her ears, but she couldn't quite shake the feeling that she  _should know_ more about this man before she seriously considered him - frustration with the world around her or not, she was wary.

She finally nodded off just before dawn with her feet drawn up next to her and her arms wrapped around her middle. It wasn't long after that when Kurt made his way over with a blanket and a pillow. " _Du siehst aus, als ob du eine Kuschel brauchst,_ " he said, climbing up beside her on the couch.

K smiled at him sleepily and pulled him closer with one arm to cuddle up as he'd suggested, stretching her legs out just enough so that he was curled up in the little hollow between her knees and the back of the couch like a little nest. " _Du bist ein süßer Engel. Mach weiter so und du bist ein echter Frauenheld wenn du älter bist."_  He managed to blush brightly and shook his head in protest as she chuckled at him. The two of them sat there for a long while with the blanket pulled up to their chins. She drifted off slightly with her arm resting across his back. He was wrapped halfway around her, and snuggled in, honestly glad for the contact, but Kurt simply couldn't sit still for too long, and after K had napped a bit longer, the two of them headed out to go back into the woods to wait for Scott to contact her.

* * *

Translations:: From German (several of these I didn't copy and show on the list because K said it in both German and English.)

 _Du musst dich nicht verstecken_. -You do not have to hide.

 _Ich werde dich nicht verletzen. -_ I will not hurt you.

 _Guten abend, Du sprichst_   _Deutsche_. - Good evening, you speak German.

 _Sie denken, ich bin ein Dämon -_ They think I am a demon.

 _Engelchen -_ little Angel

 _Was ist mit Mama? -_ Where is Mama?

 _Sie waren alle weg_  - They were all gone.

 _Sie haben mama verletzt_. -They hurt mama.

 _Sie waren nicht gut_  -They were not good.

 _Du siehst aus, als ob du eine Kuschel brauchst -_ You look like you need a cuddle.

 _Mach weiter so und du bist ein echter Frauenheld wenn du älter bist -_ Keep it up and you'll be a real womanizer when you're older.


	9. Auf Wiedersehen Für Jetzt

K wasn't expecting the X-Men to be prompt - as it was, the Black Forest was thick enough that she was sure Scott would find somewhere more open and less likely to be an ambush. And in the meantime, she and Kurt got to play a little more and spend some time enjoying the countryside. She was delighted to see the darling boy come out of his quiet phase the longer they were together.

The two of them were playing a few little games - mostly ones where K had monopolized on the opportunity to combine German and English words to get the boy thinking. It was a little one sided, but he would point something out to 'test' her German, and then he'd have to answer her with the English answer as well. He did fine for his turns to pick, but it was clear quickly that when it was her turn, it took a lot more thinking to remember the English words.

They were coming up on a river, still playing their game when K heard a twig break, and she paused, watching the area around her to see where it had come from, though she didn't alert the little one that anything was amiss. Not unless she had to.

But when nothing  _looked_ out of sorts, she simply kept her guard up as they headed down to the river, where they found Wolverine sitting on a log, arms crossed as if he'd been waiting there for days. He didn't get up right away, and instead watched them as K simply continued down the path. "I thought you'd call first," she said.

"Figured it'd be better if we surprised you for a change," Logan replied, and K nodded at that and took a seat herself on the far end of the log from him.

"You're not alone, I know," she said. "I heard one of them back in the woods. So …" she waved Kurt over to her, where she rested her hands on both of his shoulders. "This is my little friend, Kurt. Where is your very anxious boss?"

"Not my boss."

"Okay, we'll stick to that," she said. "All the same …"

"He'll be down in a bit," Logan said gruffly before he took a cigar out of his belt and lit it up.

K did her best not to watch him too carefully so as not to alarm Kurt while she used the chance to bring up new words. She pointed to Logan. " _Gelb und schwarz."_

Kurt glanced up at her, still looking a little unsure of the newcomer, but he nodded all the same. " _Ja._ Yellow and black."

Logan paused and looked between the two of them for a moment. "You been doing that the whole time?"

"More or less," K said, nodding. "There's only so much we can use in the forest though." She gave Kurt a little smile and pointed to some very pretty but also toxic mushrooms growing near by. " _Pilz._ "

Kurt nodded. "Mushroom?" he asked.

She nodded and grinned back at him. " _Wunderbar."_

His grin widened at that, showing his pointed teeth. "Wonderful," he said in a clearly teasing tone. " _Ich weiß das._ "

Logan looked amused, but simply relaxed to watch and see how much more they would do. "Of course you do," she said. "How about a tough one? This gentleman can help us, yes?" She gestured to Logan again and smirked. " _Das ist Vielfraß_."

Kurt frowned. "I… I do not know…  _wie sagt man_ …"

She shook her head and smiled. " _Nein, er heißt is ….Vielfraß._ "

"Ah!" Kurt turned toward Logan and waved. " _Hallo_.  _Ich bein Kurt_."

Logan nodded and gave K a little glance. " _Ich bein Logan."_ He turned toward K. "Are you trying to confuse the kid?"

"No. That's how you say Wolverine in German. Get with it, big guy." K gave him a little smirk at that. "I know it's not common, but I thought you'd know  _that_ at least."

"Never came up," Logan said, filing that away before he turned to Kurt. "You've been working on your English." Kurt smiled up at him and nodded his head just before Logan turned back to K. "So what's the plan here, anyhow?"

"I thought you were here on a pick up mission," K said with a little frown. "That's what I'd discussed with Scott." For a moment, she looked concerned and her hand rested on Kurt's shoulder without thinking about it. Already she was running through her head how to handle this … what her options were if she had to take him back to Avalon where she  _knew_ Magneto was fluent in German … but she didn't know if Vrykolakas  _was_ a demon, if that meant the boy would carry some sort of magic as well … and even if it was a lesser extent, she really didn't want Magneto to have  _more_ magic at his disposal.

"Yes, but we're also not in the business of traumatizing little ones," Jean said as she stepped out of the trees, looking as friendly and approachable as she could manage. "And he seems attached to you. We don't have that trust yet. So, what do you suggest?"

K nodded at that and turned to Kurt. "These are the people I was telling you about. They have the school that can teach you English and a great many other things. Do you think you would like to go with them?"

Kurt looked between K and the X-Men, then leaned toward K. "In America?" he asked, his eyes wide.

"Yes, in America," she said, nodding quietly. While Kurt looked like he was weighing it out, she looked between Jean and Logan. "I don't suppose either of you speaks Swedish?"

"No," Logan said, shaking his head.

"French?" she asked, frowning slightly.

"I know a little, but… I can get it from Logan," Jean said, knowing better at this point than to offer a telepathic linkup.

Logan nodded. "If you don't go too fast, we'll be fine."

K looked relieved as she encouraged Kurt to play the little language game with Jean while she made her way a bit closer to Logan. She was fully turned his way and started to tell him in an even and clear pace what had happened. She started out surprising him by tipping him off about Emma Frost and how she was finding some of these powerful mutants piggy backing on Cerebro. In spite of himself, Logan was leaning toward her as she spoke, looking more engaged - and even asking a few questions, which she answered quickly and clearly. The fact that she wasn't lying about any of it had him glancing toward Jean, who was entirely entranced with little Kurt.

When K got to the part about talking with the man she'd gone to find, her tone got a little harsher, and she couldn't help the little blush that rose up at her cheeks when she thought about it, which had Logan smirking quietly at her. Of course, she had turned her head to watch Kurt as she spoke about Vrykolakas, but she didn't divulge all of it - only enough to say that the man wasn't interested in Erik's offer. She glossed over how that bled into Kurt's situation, including the way she found him hidden away in a hollow tree after he'd lost track of his adoptive siblings, who left without him. "He is in danger here," K finished. "And as darling as he is, I'm not entirely sure that Wanda would allow him near her boys. She's overly protective, and I do not want to see him left out of any fun, if I can help it."

Jean glanced toward Logan, biting her lip. It was a clear call to her. "Peter could use someone his age," she said with a soft sort of smile.

"Kurt is an acrobat. He performed in the trapeze act as the Amazing Nightcrawler," K said, resting her hands on both of his shoulders and smiling kindly at him. "And he  _is_ amazing. Do you have something he could do there to keep practicing?"

Jean smiled and took a seat on the far end of the log so that K and Kurt were in the middle between the two X-Men, though she didn't visibly tense up at their proximity. "We can set up an area just for acrobatics," she said. "We already have some bars at our gym. The guys use them for pull-ups, but I think it would be neat to see something better than that."

Kurt glanced toward K and then nodded shyly. " _Ja_ , okay," he said softly.

" _Die hübsche rothaarige würde dich gerne nach Amerika bringen,_ " K teased, leaning closer to him as she spoke into his curls then kissed the top of his head.

Kurt giggled and shook his head. " _Ich bin kein Frauenheld!_ " he insisted.

" _Ja,_ " she sang out teasingly. " _So ein Frauenheld."_

" _Sie liegen falsch!"_

" _Du wirst eines Tages sein._ " K was smiling at him as she reached over to flick one of his curls. " _So_ _gutaussehend._ "

Kurt made a face at her and shook his head, but he did give her a warm hug anyway before he turned to Jean. "I will learn English in America,  _ja_?" he asked.

She nodded quickly. "Yes, of course," she promised.

"Okay,  _ja_ , I will go," he said.

K was sure to give him one more little hug before he could leave. " _Bis zum nächsten Mal, kleiner Engel._ "

"Find me in America," he whispered to her as she cradled his cheek in one hand. "I will say hello - in very good English!"

"And I'll bring you  _Deutsche Schockolade_ ," she promised.

" _Danke_ ," Kurt said and gave her another hug before he went to Jean, smiling up at her, though his tail was giving away his nerves with little twitches at the very tip.

K looked up at Jean as she got to her feet and mouthed out 'thank you' before she turned back toward Logan. "He's a very fast learner," she promised, but it was very clear Logan had no clue on how to respond to any of it.

"I'm sure he is," Logan replied before K backed up a few paces away from the X-Men and took a moment to look between all three, though she kept most of her focus on Kurt.

" _Auf Wiedersehen für jetzt,_ " K said before she blew him a little kiss and then disappeared into the trees.

Logan simply watched her go then looked over to Jean.  _What do you make of all that, Jeannie?_

Jean bit her lip.  _I'm not sure,_ she admitted.  _I know she was like that when she gave Peter to Scott - affectionate with the little ones. It's like dealing with two different people sometimes._

 _I think we're dealin' with some serious misrepresentation here,_ Logan said.  _I didn't see her the first time around when Scooter got all bent out of shape. But there's not a thing about her that's a lie today. She's anxious, too._

 _It almost sounds like you agree with Scott - that she's more complicated to deal with than we thought,_ Jean couldn't help but tease, even as she lifted Kurt onto her shoulders.

 _Everyone's more complicated to Scott,_  Logan deadpanned.

 _It's alright; I won't tell him you agree,_ she said, the amusement obvious in her mental voice.

 _Never said that I did, woman. Knock it off._ He couldn't help but smirk. "Wouldn't be the first time Scott had no idea how to handle a feral."

Jean let out a scoff and sent him back a few steps. "Oh, is that what the problem is?" she said.

"One of many," he said with a nod, keeping the straight face, even if she knew he was teasing.

She rolled her eyes at that and tipped her head up to look at Kurt. "Logan wants to get hung up in the trees," she sang up to him, though the teasing tone was hard to miss as well.

_You just can't keep your mind off me, can you, Red?_

Jean gave him a  _look_ , then let out a little noise and shook her head. "Logan… I don't know what to do with you sometimes."

He couldn't help but start laughing at that, since clearly she couldn't actually  _do_ anything without having to hear about it later. "I'll fly for you, Red. You can make friendly and learn a little German."

Jean let out a huff, but there was no real argument she could make, so she simply turned her attention to Kurt, trying to get to know him a little better as they headed back to the jet.

* * *

Translations from German

...

 _Ich weiß das._  - I know that.

 _Das ist Vielfraß_  - This is Wolverine.

 _wie sagt man_  - we say Man.

 _Nein, er heißt is ….Vielfraß_  - No, his name is Wolverine

 _Die hübsche rothaarige würde dich gerne nach Amerika bringen_  - The pretty redhead would like to bring you to America.

 _Ich bin kein Frauenheld_  - I am not a womanizer.

 _So ein Frauenheld_. - Such a womanizer.

 _Sie liegen falsch!_  - You are wrong!

 _Du wirst eines Tages sein. So gutaussehend_. - You will be someday. So handsome.

 _Bis zum nächsten Mal, kleiner Engel._  - See you next time, little angel.

 _Auf Wiedersehen für jetzt_ , - goodbye for now.


	10. Welcome To America

Jean let Kurt sit in the copilot chair next to Logan as long as he promised not to touch anything - and to prove that he wouldn't, he grasped his tail with both hands and stared wide-eyed as Logan started their vertical takeoff. He was mesmerized at all the lights, buttons, and readouts - and even more mesmerized when they finally started to move forward - climbing higher and higher as they picked up speed. He stared out of the window at the ground moving further away and finally sat back in his chair with his shoulders slouched forward … and started to pray.

It took Logan a moment to realize what he was doing, and instead of panicking him more, Jean gave him a small suggestion to relax … and with all of the excitement that he'd been through in the past few hours - and all the hiking K had him doing before they met up - Kurt fell asleep.

Which was what Jean was waiting for to peek into his mind and see how the last few days had gone. She was positively transfixed by the time she was done - and for the first time in a long time, she didn't say a word to Logan, processing all the sweetness that she saw between Kurt and K. There was no way she was faking it. And it had Jean joining the group trying to figure out why in the world she was with Magneto. If it continued, she'd more or less decided that she was going to go ahead and look in her mind - like it or not.

When they landed in Westchester, Kurt startled awake as the sensation of movement finally stopped, and as he sat up, there was a clear moment of confusion as he tried to get his bearings. It was obvious when he remembered what was going on as his shoulders dropped and he let out a deep breath before Jean and Logan led him down to Hank for a once over.

" _Mein gott,_ " Kurt said when he saw Hank. " _Du bist auch blau und pelzig!"_

Hank smiled at him broadly. " _Ja! Uch ich bin der Arzt hier._ " Kurt blinked at him and then rushed over, in awe of the furry blue doctor. Especially since he understood him. For a moment, Kurt and Hank went back and forth in German as Jean and Logan looked on. It was still a bit rocky since Kurt hadn't really seen a proper doctor before, and after a full physical, he ended up getting a battalion of shots. It was enough that when Hank handed him the traditional after-check up Twinkie, he took it with a look of suspicion - his pointed ears pinned back and his tail switching in irritation.

"He won't do that again," Logan told him.

But Kurt only gave Hank a sidelong glance before he hopped off of the exam table and took Jean's hand. " _Vas_ makes you  _besonders_?"

Jean frowned and looked over at Logan. "He wants to know what your mutant thing is," Logan explained.

She smiled and met Kurt's gaze only to project out to him  _I can hear people's thoughts and move things with my mind._  In demonstration, she lifted him gently into the air, and he gasped, reaching out to grab a hold of Logan's arm. "Sorry, I was just showing you."

Kurt looked a little shaken, but it wasn't long before he gave her a broad, toothy smile. " _Das ist Wunderbar!"_  He turned toward Logan with a bright smile. "And you?"

Logan looked up at Jean, let out a sigh and then gave Kurt a little look. "I have really good senses," he said. "I heal fast, and I have claws."

Kurt raised his eyebrows at that and nodded, but didn't say anything right away. When the three of them got up to the main floor, Scott was watching a game with Peter - who was stuffing popcorn in his mouth and talking a mile a minute.

Kurt half hid behind Logan as he saw Peter - but not fast enough for Peter to miss the movement. "Oh … wow! Hey! I'm Peter!" he called out. "Want some popcorn? Do you like sports?"

"Got your game on," Scott said to Logan. "You didn't miss anything. No score on both sides. Halfway through the second."

"Figures," Logan muttered before he headed forward and dropped into the chair while Jean took the spot next to Scott, already projecting all she knew from Kurt.

Meanwhile, the boys were gravitating toward each other - and though Kurt was obviously a little wary, Peter was trying to get a closer look - without doing it toooo obviously. He didn't get close though, before Kurt slipped past him and climbed up on the arm of the chair Logan was sitting in. Logan looked up at him for just a moment before he cracked open a beer and settled in. As long as the kid didn't screw with him and his game, he wasn't going to bother him either.

Of course, that wasn't going to last too long.

" _Wie lauten die Regeln?_ " Kurt asked quietly, and Logan looked a little frustrated before Kurt held his breath, straightened up, closed one eye and slowly tried in English. Or close to it. " _Das_  rules  _von_  how to play?"

Logan ran a hand through his hair and let out a breath as Peter climbed up on the other armrest, popcorn in hand. "They're tryin' to get the puck in the other guy's net, now let me watch." For a long while, the boys simply sat there, trying to absorb what was going on in the game, though with Logan mostly keeping it to himself and only letting out little sounds of irritation or disappointment now and again, it was harder for them to follow. Until of course, he spit out a curse between his teeth. Peter's eyes widened as his head whipped toward Logan, and Kurt grinned - knowing instinctively as little boys do that whatever word Logan had just said was not one that should be repeated. However … a few minutes later, when Logan's team again was blocked from a scoring shot - Kurt perfectly mimicked the curse.

Several things happened all at once and very quickly. Logan did a little doubletake, Peter fell off of the chair backwards shouting 'you can't say that!', Jean covered her mouth and buried her face in Scott's arm to keep from laughing, and Scott … simply couldn't stop the smile, though he stopped short of laughing. It was too much. Of course the little boy would pick up  _swearing_.

"That's not a nice word to say," Scott said, trying to rein in the grin.

"But Logan said it when they did not score, yes? That is what you do!" Kurt said, and right away, Logan smirked crookedly as Scott gave him a completely disapproving look.

"This is on you," Scott said to Logan, who simply shrugged.

"He's not wrong. When your team misses … that fits."

"Logan. No." Scott shook his head shortly. "You're not teaching Kurt how to swear."

"No," Kurt agreed, puffing out his chest and drawing himself up - though his tail was swaying behind him. "I am learning on my own!"

Which of course, had Logan breaking down laughing - and Kurt and Peter following suit shortly after. Peter however, took off running, holding on to Kurt's hand, though when they turned the corner, Remy was walking in - and Kurt diverted to run straight up the wall. Which was shocking enough on it's own … except that Peter followed step for step.

"Oh, wow," Jean said, stopping laughing all at once as the boys came to a stop on the ceiling, both of them just then realizing what they'd done.

Kurt didn't look the least bit surprised, but Peter … "Oh … oh wow… oh wow wow wow," he said as he crouched and put his hands out to hold on to the ceiling. "Um … how do I get down now?"

Kurt grinned at him as he stood upside down on the ceiling. " _Du gehst natürlich. Oder Salto_." Kurt took a few steps then crouched down so he and Peter were on the same level - and before anyone could stop him, he arched his back, and leapt from the ceiling, flipping twice before he landed on his feet - and then bowed deeply. "Easy, yes?"

But the adults in the room were on their feet, watching Peter now, who clearly hadn't been expecting this, of all things.  _He shouldn't be able to do this … even if he's a mutant, this shouldn't … he's too young!_ Jean projected out, but Scott didn't have any response for a long time.

 _Maybe it's not a mutant thing,_ Logan said, though to which boy he was speaking of was anyone's guess. "Neat trick, kid," Logan said to Kurt, winning him a grin from the blue boy.

"You don't have to try and flip," Jean told Peter, holding her hands up. "I can catch you - remember? Flying?"

"Yeah. Yeah, okay," Peter said, though when Jean started to telepathically lift him up, it was clear that he was stuck pretty good.

"You need to let go, Peter," Jean told him, smirking to herself as the little boy's eyes widened and he quickly did just that. As soon as he was on the ground, she gave him a little hug. "Why don't we go talk to Hank for a minute, hmm? That was pretty cool, but I would like to know how you did it."

"Yeah, me too," Peter said.

Kurt looked a little confused and made his way over to Logan. " _Nein,_ no," he asserted.

"The Elf'll stay with me," Logan said, which got a dry look from both Jean and Scott.

"Really, Logan?" Scott said, entirely unamused. "Elf?"

"Hey. Come on. Look at 'im. Pointy ears - she found him in a hollow tree? No brainer. Elf." Logan smirked as Scott stared blankly back for a moment - but Kurt had his chest puffed up.

" _Ja._ Yes. I like it," he said, but it wasn't until the Summers and Peter left that he tugged on Logan's arm. "But what does the tree have to do with it?" he asked quietly, which got a snerking laugh out of Logan.

"Come on, I'll explain," he said, letting Kurt climb up for a piggy back ride as he took him to the kitchen for a snack for the kid, and a beer for himself.

* * *

After K walked had away from the X-Men and little Kurt, she took a little time to process everything and to do a little shopping. She needed to clear her head out and put that mission behind her, particularly since she was more than a little invested in the little blue guy.

She spent a day spoiling herself as she kicked around Munich, though she was also sure to keep her eyes open for anyone useful, as well. And by the time that she had finally felt halfway calm, her comm was going off with Wanda asking when she was going to return.

"The boys miss you," Wanda told her. "You've been gone for a while now, and I've been holding my father off-"

But Wanda was cut short as Tommy stole the comm from her to start babbling at top speed. Most of it was nonsense words, but K could figure out the gist of it: how  _boooooring_ it was without her to play with. And that at least had K smiling to herself. "I only have a few more stops to make and then I'll see you all soon," K promised, which got a very small chorus of 'awwww' from the two boys as Wanda giggled to herself in the background.

"How did it go?" she had to ask.

"I found him," K said, letting out a breath. "But he wasn't interested."

"Oh, I was hoping that would have been a good lead," Wanda said. "I boosted Frost to help her find him for you."

"That … actually explains a lot," K said, shaking her head. "I'm just picking up a few things for the boys before I go. There isn't any change in this area of Germany when it comes to attitudes."

"That's too bad," Wanda replied, sounding honestly down about it. "I'll pass that on, too."

K shook her head as she ended the communication and headed down to a little shop to get some surprises for the little ones.

Of course, when she got back, the rest of the news coming in was fairly good. Construction on the new Genosha was moving ahead of schedule, which was exactly what Erik wanted to hear, but before K could say what had happened with the powerful mutant she was looking for, Frost was quick to cut across her.

"And of course, the little beast returns empty handed where it matters," The White Queen said in a condescending sort of tone.

"He wasn't interested," K replied.

"In our cause or in  _you_ recruiting him?" Emma asked, one eyebrow arched high.

K narrowed her eyes at her and smirked crookedly. "I don't answer to you, white trash."

"It's White Queen," Emma said icily.

"Says you," K replied before she gave Erik a little look and turned on her heel. "He's not joining the X-Men either, so you can relax."

She didn't look back, but she knew that it was good enough for Erik when he didn't pull her back to answer more questions, and the moment she turned the corner from the meeting, she was greeted by twin squeals as first Tommy then Billy rushed to her and attached themselves to her legs.

"Didja bwing somethin'?" Tommy shouted, bouncing in place.

"Presents?" Billy asked just as excitedly but not quite so  _loud_ as Tommy.

"I promised I would," K said, walking slowly with one little boy on each foot.

"You so  _sloooowwwwwwww,_ " Tommy complained, tipping his head as far back as he could without falling off of her foot.

"Because your butt is full of lead," she said, hands on her hips, which had both of them laughing.

"No! Your butt is fulla .. fulla … adam… amadantum," Tommy said, sticking his tongue out as he let go of her leg and put his hands on his hips.

"No, all my bones are  _adamantium_ ," K said. "Your butt is just heavy."

But by that time, Tommy was doing laps around them as Billy held onto her hand and walked with her to where her bags were waiting.

"Mefirst, mefirst, mefirst," Billy said, finally showing his excitement for presents now that they were so close.

"No," K said as she crouched down to pull out the right bag. "Same time."

"Me first!" Billy argued, wide-eyed and almost pleading.

She was ready to hand Tommy his first for a change, with Billy looking crestfallen at the idea, when Tommy tried to snatch the package out of her hand, which of course, had K pulling it back and then watching him as she handed Billy his first. "Be. Patient," she told him. "You were going to be first until you got grabby."

He made a groaning noise, his shoulders slouched as K handed him his package and then kissed his forehead first. It took him all of five seconds to tear into it and find all of the candy she'd brought back from Germany. Of course, there were all kinds of chocolates tucked in around the marzipan and gummy bears - and for each of them a different collection of Grimm's Fairy Tales.

"You were both getting bored with your bedtime stories," she said. "So I got some you haven't heard before."

The boys giggled delightedly and then headed off, clutching their treasures to their chests.

* * *

No one was expecting a package at the mansion in Westchester, but there was one all the same … addressed to their resident wall crawlers, Peter and Kurt, ℅ Charles Xavier.

The boys had been making a game out of climbing the walls and quietly hiding around chandeliers and sconces … though the staff caught on quickly when the sounds of devilish giggles echoed down from above. And when the two of them saw their names on the box that Scott was carrying toward Charles' office, they shared a glance and started rushing behind him on the ceiling.

"I don't know what she's playing at, professor," Scott said - though the boys had managed to slip in the door before Scott could close it. He'd missed it, of course, but Charles had seen them skittering along the ceiling.

"Perhaps she's simply reaching out. Or having second thoughts about sending them to us," Charles said before he projected to Scott.  _Little ears on the ceiling. Please be careful of what you say._

Scott raised an eyebrow and made an unnecessary turn just in time to catch the little wall crawlers skittering off to hide where they could. Which … was hard to do considering the lack of cover up there in Charles' office.  _I don't think she'd do anything to hurt them,_  Scott projected, to which Charles of course agreed.

Instead, Charles simply took the box and carefully opened it - and then looked openly shocked for a moment before he called for Logan to come in. He was careful to keep the contents hidden, and he wanted Logan to give it a once over before the boys could get into it.

Of course, Scott  _saw_ the shock on his face and got to his feet to peek over his shoulder and then share a glance with him - just as confused as Charles was.

It didn't take Logan long to show up, and when he did, he didn't waste any time, both in doing as Charles wanted - and in busting the boys out. "If you two want your packages, you need to come off the ceiling first," Logan said, seeing no reason not to hand it over.

"Logan -"

"It's just candy and a book, Slim. Nothin' too far out of line," Logan said. "It's clean, and I don't think you have to worry about her an' the kids anyhow."

"No, I didn't … that's not what I meant, and you know it," Scott said, looking a little frustrated as the kids made their way over to Logan first … and then Charles.

The first thing he did was hand them each a book -  _Grimm's Fairy Tales_ for each of them - one in German, the other English, and both very old. Then he handed them each a bundle of candy with a little note attached that had their names with a short message of 'Stay good.' and signed by K.

The boys were delighted, and Kurt was of course over the moon as he looked at the confections she'd had in there for them - and excitedly started to tell Peter what they all were - and which were the best. He'd nibbled on a piece of marzipan fruit before he turned to look up at Logan. "Does this mean I won't see her again?" Kurt asked.

To their surprise, Peter stilled at the question too, and was looking up at Logan with an almost identical expression on his face.

"No," Logan decided, but he didn't have more than that to add - not sure himself if she'd return after the way things had gone last time.

Kurt relaxed at the answer though, and reached over to Peter. "Come on, I'll show you the best ones."

With that, the two boys hurried off, treasures in hand and laughing the whole way.

"You can't make promises like that, Logan," Scott said once the boys were out of earshot.

"Who's makin' promises?" Logan asked. "She'll keep bringing more kids - and if she's sendin' 'em presents … she won't be able to keep away forever."

"You might be more right than you know," Charles said as he pulled out an envelope at the bottom of the box, addressed to him in careful, neat script. Before he could open it, Logan took it and did it for him, sure to check it for any kind of poison or powder, even though Charles was sure to point out: "I highly doubt she'd put anything toxic in the same box as the gifts she sent the boys."

When Logan handed the letter back, Charles leaned back as he started to read it - looking more interested the deeper he got into it. K had been sure to carefully outline everything that she thought might be pertinent to safeguard themselves from whatever Emma Frost was up to. Additionally, she gave him a number should he have any further questions for her about either boy. The post script however, got to Scott. Where she admitted that she didn't want to let any kids she found get caught up in Erik's vendettas. ' _If you don't have room, or you're already overstretched, I'll find someone else. Let me know ahead of time if that's the case.'_

"I  _told her_ we'd take kids," Scott said, frowning deeper.

"She's trying to plan ahead, you oughta like that," Logan said, though that got a bit of a dry look from both Charles and Scott.

"I'll reach out to her and set her straight," Charles said. "But if this is going to be a continuing trend, then we really should come up with a better system than how it stands now."

* * *

Translations: (from German)

…..

 _Du bist auch blau und pelzig_ \- You are also blue and fuzzy!

 _Ja! Uch ich bin der Arzt hier._ \- Yes, and I am the Doctor here.

 _Vas_ makes you  _besonders_  - What makes you special?

 _Wie lauten die Regeln_ \- What are the rules?

 _Du gehst natürlich. Oder Salto -_ You walk naturally. Or Somersault.


	11. Avengers, Assemble!

Slowly, but surely, all around the country rallies were being held that showcased Magneto's vision for the future. The alarming thing was that most of them were organic occurrences that people were organizing on their own … and a few were starting to rival the kind of attendance that those where Magneto himself appeared.

Obviously Erik was overly pleased with himself, and his connections in the media were finally doing what he'd paid or blackmailed them to do. The coverage was amazing - and replays of Captain America knocking out K were being looped any time someone tried to defend the Avengers. Which, for the most part meant that for a long while, if K wasn't doing recon or scouting, or …  _recruiting_ , she didn't have to be in the public eye. Which was perfectly fine by her.

But the day had finally come where she was forced to step up and make her presence known when they started questioning if the blow Cap had landed had actually done her serious harm. And Erik was more than happy to take her to a large rally that had come about outside of his sphere of influence.

Which just meant that those in attendance would be that much more frenzied at his appearance. K put her newest uniform on - something that Erik had finally pushed that they all wore - the color scheme limited to purple, black, and red for everyone involved, and though K wasn't thrilled with the skin-tight bodysuit, Pietro was absolutely disgusted with his change in colors.

Wanda at least had already fallen into the required trio with her red suit, but the silvery-blue and white that Pietro always wore was out of the question, and he was being a child about it, too.

K ran her hand down her side as she looked him over. There wasn't a thing for him to complain about - except perhaps the fact that the abundance of purple in his new uniform made his resemblance to his father all the more striking. Although, if Erik noticed how much stronger Pietro looked when the two of them were side by side … that would be changed, she was sure.

"What?" Pietro said in an almost irritated tone when he realized that K was looking at him.

She shook her head lightly. "You look …"

He let out a scoffing noise and rolled his eyes, sure that she was going to say something insulting as she usually did.

"... I was going to say you looked like you were ready to step up, but you went and ruined it," K said.

He fell silent at that, obviously weighing it all out as the group travelled to where the rally was going on in Grant Park. Lake Shore Drive had been blocked off by the sheer number of people that were gathered between Buckingham fountain and Lake Michigan, and it was near the fountain that the organizers of this rally had set up their microphones.

The crowd was massive, and there was no solid way to measure how many people were in the park - and very many of them were physically altered mutants - though not all of it was mutations. Many of the people in the crowd had a scarred up 'M' either on their faces, hands, or bodies - and it was clear that it wasn't done voluntarily. Someone had held each of them down and burned it into their skin.

It was enough to get K growling low - and that had Pietro smirking crookedly. "Yeah, now you get a growl going. It's too bad you were out of it when they started to do that to people. Instead you were vacationing in Germany …"

"I was trying to recruit."

"And you came back empty handed. Your life is  _so_ hard," Pietro said, clearly bitter that he wasn't the one out on recruiting missions.

K did her best to ignore him, though she'd heard a lot of the same thing from Emma Frost and a few of the people that Emma was close to in Avalon, and Pietro hadn't been warm with her from the beginning, so him being a jerk wasn't a shock. At all.

But if the crowd was worked up before they got there, by the time Erik took the podium, they were in an absolute frenzy.

"My name is Erik Lensherr. I was a  _Sonderkommando_ at Auschwitz for almost two years. I watched thousands of men, women, and children walk to their deaths while following the rules laid out by the Reich that had taken over much of Europe. I pulled the bodies of my people from the gas chambers. I dug out their teeth so the Germans could take their gold. And I carried them to the ovens, where I learned how to combine a child's body with an old man's to make them burn better. I saw my fellow workers buried alive under an avalanche of rotting corpses. I saw thousands of murdered people burning in giant outdoor pits. I have seen at  _least_ a quarter million dead human beings with my own eyes…and I couldn't save a single one." Erik paused as the crowd, who had moments before been frothing fell to near silence, hanging on his every word.

Erik looked to those he'd brought with him for a moment before he turned back to the spellbound crowd. "My brothers and sisters...we must prepare. We must prepare to take what evolution has promised us. For the age of humanity ends now. They would have you think that conflict can be avoided if only we comply to their laws. Register who we are, what we're capable of.  _Brand_ us or tag us - or make us wear a symbol so that those who are not physically mutated can still be easily identified - anything, to make it easier for them to find us and drag us from our homes when they decide that our time has come."

The murmurs began to rise up as the crowd was nodding in agreement. "On  _Kristallnacht_ , my father wanted to fight. But then ...the Nazis might have killed the whole family. In the ghetto, I could have gutted a Nazi murderer. But then... they would have killed a hundred Jews in retaliation. Two months later, I could have pushed the  _Hauptscharführer_ into the fire pit. But then ...they would have killed the rest of my work crew. So to save everyone, I did  _nothing_. And guess what? They killed them all anyway. Do not be afraid to act. Do not fall into that trap of complacency when faced with the unknown. What they have failed to tell you, my friends … is that when dealing with those that would strive to control you … peace is never an option."

Almost on cue - someone in the crowd pointed to a smoke trail over Lake Michigan that was growing larger as it rocketed closer and closer … and with a scowl, Magneto turned and rose up, his chin dipping toward his chest as his hands raised from his sides. As the giant robot ordered him to surrender, Magneto closed his hands, crushing the monstrosities as they came closer - and letting them fall onto the beach - littering them across Lakeshore Drive, scattering the crowd that had been gathered there.

Magneto was in a full, righteous fury by the time he turned back to the crowd - who rose up in a deafening cheer. His voice boomed over the group - only eliciting more cheers and whistles from the gathered crowd. "Do  _not_ allow yourselves to fall into the same trap that the Jewish people did when I was a young man! Fight for your lives and for those of your children! That is what is at stake! Our very survival! Whatever comes, I and mine will  _not go_  like lambs to the slaughter — but like tigers! And we will take down as many as we can of those that would stand against us!"

The crowd was loud enough that K very nearly missed the high pitched whine an instant before she dove, and half of the stage was obliterated by a repulsor blast. K had barely made it out of the way, and bits of wood and dirt were raining down on her - and whoever was closest to the stage as Iron Man made his appearance - every bit as bold as she'd ever seen him from afar.

Erik took one look at where K was getting to her feet amid the wreckage and turned toward Stark in a rage, his hand outstretched … but it was clear right away that he knew this was no normal version of Iron Man armor …

He reached deeper, looking for the copper wires and aluminum relays … only to find nothing.

"In the beginning was the word, and the word was 'stop'. As in this insanity, right now, Magneto. Just stop," Tony said, holding himself aloft and almost cocky about his ability to fly up on the master of magnetism … without a gram of metal on his person. "You're wrong. We're not against you. We're not trying to round you up or march you into camps - or whatever other lies you've been telling people. That's not how it is."

"Oh, no," K said under her breath, and Wanda, who was next to her once she'd gotten on the stage was already shaking her head.

"No kidding, what is he doing?" Wanda said just low enough for K to hear her.

The women ducked as an entire sentinel flew past their heads - a desperate attempt to hit Stark with whatever metal was available, but other Avengers were coming in, too, and it wasn't long at all before Erik realized that not one of them had a bit of metal on them. There was little he could do to stop them outside of using what was readily available.

"Those things are too big to match his speed," Pietro half-shouted at his father. "Tear them apart first!"

Erik sneered, his lip curled back in frustration. "I  _can't_ with our little feral this close," he nearly hissed back.

Pietro smirked up at his father. "Then get her  _away_ from you," he said before he darted off to start fighting Captain America bare fisted.

Erik frowned. Doing so would break the promise he'd made to K after the incident with Captain America - but Pietro was right. Hurtling whole sentinels or even hunks of sentinels wasn't going to do him any good. He needed to shred the robots and shoot them toward Stark and his Avengers like thousands of pieces of shrapnel all at once. That had him almost smirking as he kept his gaze on Stark and reached out to his side.

K and Wanda had just come up with a plan that would neutralize but not kill the Avengers that had shown up to stop them when K suddenly couldn't move, and she was lifted off the ground. She held her breath as Erik narrowed his eyes and spoke out the side of his mouth. "I'm sorry to do this to you, my dear. But there's no other way without tearing you to shreds as well." She didn't have time to even take a breath before she was hurtled through the air. She felt her claws forcibly extracted from her hands and her arms stretched out in front of her a second before she saw that she was headed right for Stark.

But even at that, Tony was faster, and he darted to the side at the last moment, wrapped an arm around her waist and reached up to snap a collar around her throat that had her entire body feeling entirely … odd. "Mine now! You gave her to me!" Tony shouted just as K found herself able to move for a moment. She retracted her claws before she put a hand on the encased arm that was around her waist, and once again, she wasn't able to move. "Thank you for putting those away," Tony said over her shoulder. "I appreciate that."

"You can put me down," K said, but Tony, let out a little 'mmm, no'.

Erik was floating at the same level as Tony, and when he reached out to pull her back to him, it seemed to have the opposite effect - and with the massive force he'd used to pull her - instead, she and Stark rocketed deeply into the city, aided by Tony adding some direction and more speed with his repulsors once he'd stopped them from spiraling. Erik was clearly furious, and Tony had gone straight to retreat, flying as fast as he could as he kept a tight grip on her.

"What are you  _doing_?" K said between her teeth. "He's just going to pull me back."

"Not today, sweetheart," Tony said. "That collar you're wearing reversed the polarity of your skeleton. Who's the master of magnetism now?"

She blinked a few times, unsure of how to even  _respond_ to something like that. "He'll figure it out."

"Oh, yeah. But in the meantime, I'm pretty sure it's time you and I had a little talk."

"I think we're good," K said, doing her best to sound perfectly reasonable.

"Yeah, no. Nice try," Tony replied. "You and me have a date with a little privacy. I need to know why you did what you did."

"Isn't it enough just to take the tip and be happy with it?"

"That is such a loaded question," Tony muttered, which got K to gape at him for a moment.

"You did  _not_ just … oh my God," K couldn't help but laugh at him. "Don't you guys have … like … some kind of code of  _conduct_?"

"Are you really asking me if  _I have a code of conduct_ after you single-handedly wrecked  _Captain America's rep?_ " Tony asked in a tone of disbelief.

"Let's get something straight right now," K said, twisting as much as she was able to look up at his face … mask,  _anyhow_. "I didn't do that to him anymore than I flew at you under my own power."

Tony paused, clearly thinking that over for a moment. "Huh."

K tried to move - just to shift a little, but she wasn't able to take her hands off of his arm. At all … and he had an arm around her anyhow. So for the time being, she really didn't have a way to argue with him on it. At all. Like it or not, he was going to get her away from the group, and she was pretty sure someone was keeping Magneto away as well. As soon as they landed - quite far from Chicago - K had to ask before he even got his face mask open. "You went to an awful lot of trouble to get me alone. Seeing as you know he'll just …  _yank_ me to him, what's your endgame here?"

Tony let out a breath and watched her for a long moment. "You know we  _still_ can't manage a proper threat analysis on you? Not when you keep … tipping us off, and  _rescuing kids._ "

"Is that a complaint?" K replied. "Because I wasn't planning on stopping either of those things."

"Then let us get you out of there. Obviously  _I_ can play keep away better than the average bear."

"So far. It's been what? Ten minutes?"

He shook his head, looking frustrated. "You don't  _get it_. I can make it work - we can get you away from that whole mess of crazy. And by the way, you're not doing the whole 'evil mutant' thing very well."

K couldn't help but smirk, raising one eyebrow his way. "Do you  _want me to do the evil mutant thing?_ "

Tony paused and took a step toward her with a barely repressed smirk. "Only if it ends how I'm imagining it will," he said without a moment's pause. He smiled crookedly. "Are you going to stab me?"

"Why would I go through all the trouble to keep you breathing just to stab you?"

"Evil super-villain agenda," Tony said, shrugging. "Pretty sure that's chapter four in the handbook - right before monologuing. Thought you might want to do it yourself, but if you want to monologue and spill your evil plans for world domination or … whatever, I'm all ears."

K couldn't help but laugh. "No. I don't want to kill you, Mr. Stark, and I'm not really the dominating type."

"It's Tony, and that other thing is debatable." He gave her one last, appraising look before he took a few steps closer and shook his head as K looked up at him and reached up to touch the collar. "You don't want to take that off yet," Tony warned. "So come on. We're alone. You can move freely. Why'd you tip Cap off? You're working with Magneto -  _still._  There is no logical reason that you would even consider giving us help. So … spill. I'm an Avenger. You know you can trust me."

She watched him as he held his hands palm toward her and out to his sides. He wasn't joking around, and it was painfully clear that it bugged him on some level, even if she honestly didn't have a reasonable explanation for it other than … it was wrong.

Tony waited, giving her a moment to try and gather her thoughts as she bit her lip and turned away from him, trying to find a way to put it to words. The truth was that even if she hadn't sussed it out, it really had gotten to him, and after spending all the time he did going over the material she'd slipped Steve  _for his benefit,_ Tony  _needed_ to know what was going on in her head.

Which made it that much harder to think about things logically when she finally turned back his way, held his gaze for a long moment and then darted in to kiss the sense out of him. Which took some doing in itself. "It was the right thing to do," she said finally before he felt a tug that pulled her straight back, and nearly yanking her out of his grip. For just a second, it was clear that his brain hadn't quite caught up to what was happening, but by the time he blinked out of his shock … there was another, much harder tug.

The armored mask came back down, and his repulsors powered up as he tried to fight the pull … until he noticed the pained expression on her face and he let go with almost a gasp of his own at how hard Magneto was pulling her. Erik obviously hadn't seen them together, but once he'd gotten her close, he was frustrated at the collar she was still wearing that  _he_ couldn't disassemble. But Tony had gotten close enough for his mics to catch the exchange between Magneto and K.

"Cut it off," Magneto ordered, looking almost reasonable until K shook her head 'no'.

"Not in the middle of a fight - and  _not in mid air_ ," K snarled back. Neither she nor Tony was expecting his response - which was to tip up his chin, mutter out a low 'fine' and then to simply release his hold on her metal and let her  _fall_  from several hundred feet in the air. She was clearly taken off guard too, and though she did not scream, it was clear even from where Tony was that she was in  _shock_ first and foremost.

Purely on instinct, K was reaching for  _anything_ as she fell, but of course, there weren't even skyscrapers where they were for her to try and use to slow down. Her heart was racing, and she was holding her breath, just waiting for the impact when once again, she felt an arm around her middle. "Gotcha," Tony said as K turned to wrap her arms around his neck and hold on to him tighter. It wasn't even something she'd thought about - it was just an automatic response. And one that had Tony mercifully without anything snarky to say at the time. "Hey. I'm not gonna let you fall," Tony said, not mentioning to her that his suit was monitoring her vitals as long as the collar was on her - and he was honestly concerned about exactly how  _fast_ her heart was going.

When they landed on the beach, Tony didn't wait to drop the face mask to try and look her in the face while she caught up to being on steady ground again. "You okay?" he asked as she nodded her head. "You're sure?"

"Yes," K said, regaining her balance, though she knew if she'd let go of him, her hands would be shaking. "I think we're about even now, though." She took just a moment to breathe before she finally gestured to the collar. "You might want to keep this … just to keep him from figuring out how to circumvent the whole thing …"

Tony nodded as she picked her hair up off the back of her neck so he could get to the mechanism and unlatch it. "Probably bought yourself a couple more minutes while he figures out how to reach out and manhandle you again."

"Polarity-"

"Switch. Again. Yeah." He frowned as she looked up, searching the skies for any sign of Magneto. "You let him get away with that?"

"Not really, no," K said. "He'll have a bruise next time he's on camera." She turned her attention back to Tony and gave him a little smile before she went up on her toes and gave him another quick kiss. "Thanks for catching me. You saved me a world of hurt and healing."

"Sure you don't want to give us a chance to convert you from your wicked ways?"

"Why would you want to do that?" K asked, and Tony couldn't help but smile as she turned and headed off running down the beach back toward the city.

Tony couldn't find Magneto on any of his scans, and before he could get back into a full on search to get back into the fight, Jan came through on the comms. "The angry mob has been dispersed, and we've picked up a few of the more rowdy troublemakers. So … whatever you've been up to … you can just … fly on back to reality."

"On my way," Tony said under his breath, almost disappointed that he'd missed the fun. "How'd those new wings hold up?"

"Fan-tastic," Jan gushed. "You should have seen the look on Quicksilver's face when I yanked him backward by his hair and put him on the ground." Tony chuckled in spite of himself. "How was the fight with the new girl?"

"She's tough to get a handle on," Tony said, though he wasn't quite ready to voice all he knew.

"She's even cuter up close then, huh?" Jan teased.

"Glad to hear you're in better spirits. The collar worked - for a little bit anyhow. I'll go ahead and let Wolverine know he should carry it for himself if nothing else."

Jan laughed outright at his abrupt attempt at a subject change. "Gotcha loud and clear. We'll talk about it when we're all together again."

But for all it was worth, the ride back to the tower was amazingly quiet in spite of everything. Steve was battered pretty solidly, as was Clint, of course. And while Jan was sure to handle the initial clean up his his injuries, Natasha took care of Clint - and Tony was suspiciously devoid of any injuries.

"What did you find out, Tony?" Steve asked, wincing back from the iodine Jan was dabbing onto a long laceration by his eye.

"I found out it's more complicated than we first realized," Tony said, watching his teammates for just a moment before he came out with his overall analysis. "I think we need to get her out of there."

"You're just biased because she tipped you off on that metal substitute," Jan said, with a little smirk. "And you think she's cute."

"That has nothing to do with my decision making process," Tony defended, but that got a scoff from Clint as he pointed a finger Tony's way. "And I might listen to that if it wasn't for the fact that you've got her lipstick smeared on your mouth."

Tony gave him a dry look. "I think she's okay. She tipped me off to keep me alive then she didn't even try to fight me. We should get her away from Magneto - who, by the way was manhandling her. And for as clever as she is, it wouldn't hurt to get her on  _our_ side."

"Yeah, no," Clint said, shaking his head already. "All the proof I need that you're wrong is in the lipstick smear. You kissed her - so that's like … proof that she's evil if we go by your track record with women."

Tony shook his head, his jaw clenching. "And your record's spotless?"

"Yes! It is!" Clint said, gesturing to Natasha, who was sure to keep her expression unreadable, though he flinched shortly after that when she put some antiseptic on a nasty scrape down his arm.

"Funny, I was going to use her as an example to the contrary," Tony shot back.

"Neither one of you had a real leg to stand on here," Steve said before the argument could get too far out of hand - even if Jan was  _highly_ amused by the way it was going so far. "Since you've got insight on this … what do you think?"

Natasha looked up, her expression still blank as she glanced over at Tony. "Who kissed who?" Natasha asked.

"She kissed me," Tony said, though he didn't need to add that he had dove right in with her once it was started up.

"Definitely ill intentions," Natasha said, which earned her a very unamused look from Tony and a cry of triumph from Clint.

"You're just mad you didn't give her the code to get into your armored button fly," Clint snerked, clearly amused with all of it.

"She wouldn't need one," Natasha said, still carefully cleaning up Clint's wounds. She smirked slightly. "There is no code for that."

"Alright, that's … come on. I'm not that easy," Tony argued.

"For a girl like that? Yes, Tony. Yes you are," Natasha said.

Steve was smirking crookedly. "She has a point, Tony. A pretty girl like that is your biggest weakness. The fact that she's dangerous too?" He shook his head. "They might just be right on this one."

"So what? You think she was civil to you - and handed over new tech - just to get to me? Why? Why not just take me out?" Tony challenged. "I'm  _right_ on this one because the other options don't make any sense."

"None of it with her makes any sense," Clint said. "She's in the third category. We're the good guys - they're the bad guys … and she's just … chaos."

"Is that a bit of reading I detect or did your fantasy game run long?" Tony sniped.

"I think what he's saying is that she acts out of her own best interests," Natasha said. "Not on either side of the fight, really."

"Which brings me to - why save me?" Tony said. "She didn't know about the polarity reversal I came up with because I didn't look into that until after I had the material she gave us."

"She's murdering soldiers," Jan pointed out.

"And saving kids," Tony argued - which was enough to get them all to settle down for the time being. "If it was the other way around, I'd be worried - but it's not."

"Scott said they tried to help her already - she refused," Steve said.

"Maybe she doesn't think they can do the job," Tony said before he turned toward Steve fully. "She said that it was Magneto using her in that fight. And if you watch the tape, you can see it for just an instant before you hit her - she wasn't planning to let you land that hit."

"Or … she's lying and you just want in her pants," Clint said.

"Either way, he definitely wants in her pants," Natasha agreed, crossing her arms and watching Tony with exactly the same expression Clint was wearing.

* * *

The trip to Avalon was mostly silent. Magneto's Brotherhood had suffered some serious injuries of their own, but for the time being, no one was in the mood to discuss things . Even if it was wildly apparent that things needed to be said. Erik in particular kept glancing over at K, but the one time she looked back at him, it was to hold his gaze for a moment, then roll her eyes as she looked away. He was going to have to address what had happened before their situation devolved further.

When they arrived at Avalon, Erik put out a hand for K to wait just a moment - which got a growl as the others walked away. "I wanted to apologize-" Erik started, but was cut off when K's hand darted forward and she slapped him across the face  _hard_. The strike echoed the halls, and when he opened his mouth to say something, she snarled outright at him. Which was his cue to slam her against the wall across the hallway and pin her there with a sneer.

"My dear girl - I saved you from a fate worse than death - and this … this is how you repay me? I told you before that I regretted doing what I had to - but it was to save  _your own life_. Perhaps I wasn't clear before, so let me be clear now," Erik said, stretching her limbs out until she could feel the tendons stretching and threatening to pop out of joint. "I ask not for friendship or love. I provide you sanctuary from the humans below us. I clothe you and feed you and give you all you ever desire. All I demand in return is fear from the humans - and blind obedience from those that do my bidding. What you fail to grasp is that there are no heroes or villains in this game. There is only what I want and how I'll get it."

K let loose an involuntary sound of pain, though she was biting her lip to keep from letting more slip past. "Continue to cross me, woman, and neither your powers or your many skills will save you from my wrath. You are here because you know the truth … that I … I am  _power._ "

"Father!" Wanda half shouted, drawing Erik's attention from the anguished look of pain on K's face just a moment before he let her fall to the floor in a crumpled heap.

Erik barely glanced K's way as he started down the hallway. "Consider yourself on confinement until you hear from me otherwise."

K had her arms around her middle and she was folded over on her knees, her hands were numb and her joints ached - every one of them, including the spots where her ribs connected to her spine and breastbone …

She flinched as Wanda laid a hand on her shoulder. "He's gone, and I'm sorry, but I have a favor to ask of you."

"Who am I to deny the princess?" K asked dryly, though all that really did was get Wanda's shoulders to drop and a moment later, she had pulled K into a hug and simply held onto her.

"I really hate when you call me that."

"I really hate when your dad pulls that crap."

"Yeah, I know," Wanda agreed. "But … I know of something you hate more."

K pulled back from Wanda's shoulder and watched her expressions for a moment. "Like what?"

Wanda looked both ways before she lowered her voice to just over a whisper - sure that only K could hear her in the noisy hall. "I'll tell you about it when we get to privacy."


	12. An Exception To K's Rule On Avengers

"Did you see the Wasp down there?" Wanda asked quietly as she put her arm around K's shoulders and led her down to where the boys were playing with Vision. Of course, that was short-lived when they saw their favorite 'Aunt' and had to rush over to say hello. K crouched down to catch the two of them as they rushed over, and to their initial delight, when they hit her, they toppled her backward flat on her back with a little 'oof'.

But bright, cheerful giggles made way for a much more quiet kind of snuggle. "Whas wrong?" Billy asked before he put one hand on her cheek and leaned in to kiss the opposite cheek.

"Nothing, sweetheart," K said quietly before she pulled him into a little hug and kissed his forehead - and did the same with Tommy as he quietly curled in for his own snuggles and kisses.

"Nuh-uh," Tommy said as he tucked his head under her chin.

"Doesn't matter, sweetie. I just need a minute. I just got back from a fight."

"Oooooh! Who you fight-nin?" Tommy asked excitedly. "Wobots? Mean peoples?"

"Yes, yes, that," she said, nodding. It was much easier than to tell the kids of two ex-Avengers that they were scuffling with their old team-mates. "But … Iron Man picked me out of the air."

Both boys ooh-ed and aah-ed and climbed off so that she could tell them what had happened, but before she could do that, Wanda stepped in. "Maybe in the morning. It's bedtime, boys."

"But .. what if … what if … there's more fight-nin?" Tommy asked, looking ready to pout.

"I'm not going anywhere near fighting for a while," K promised. "And I'm not going hunting or shopping. I'll be here, with you if your mom and dad need a break."

Vision turned toward the two women, obviously questioning the accuracy of that statement, and when Wanda nodded, he smiled slightly. "Although I am sorry to hear it, I can't say I'm disappointed."

"I know… you need your time," K said, shaking her head as Wanda headed off with the little ones - arguing over which fairy tale they were going to hear for their bedtime story. And in the meantime, K made her way over to the couch slowly. Everything still hurt, so she was pretty sure there were a few things off-kilter from the rack-treatment Erik had given her. She gave Vision a tired kind of smile as he watched her stretch out on the couch.

"Do you need anything to heal?" he asked, and though she tipped her head his way, she was sure to give him a negative.

"I'll handle that after Wanda and I have our talk. She had something to tell me," K said. "I'm not much in the mood to have to listen to Pietro or the White Trash anyhow."

He didn't offer any further comment, and instead she started drifting off as things began to snap back into place, pinching now and again, but not hurting enough to get her to shift how she was laid out.

She was almost startled then, when Wanda gently woke her up. "Why'd you let me sleep?"

"You were tired," Wanda said, frowning at her. "And no one will bother you here - so …"

"Alright, then what did you want to tell me about?" K asked, just before she thanked Vision for the bottle of water he handed her once she was upright.

"What do you know about the Pyms?" Wanda asked, looking troubled already.

"I know their daily patterns ...and I know that he needs to pull his head out of his lab before he has another accident."

"I got a moment to speak with Jan, and … things are bad," Wanda said slowly. "They're getting divorced."

"As upsetting as I'm sure that is, I really don't care about the Avengers soap opera dramas," K said.

"No, she's leaving him because he hit her," Wanda said. "He's been awful to her for years, and she's been hanging on for as long as I can remember, but … he finally snapped. And - he's already moved all of his interests to look like he has nothing to the courts. He's trying to get her name removed from any of the work they did together … and he's threatened her to keep away."

K listened carefully to what Wanda was saying - and though there was a lot more said - and more detail given, including the fact that apparently, it wasn't a one-time mistake or lapse in judgement, but an abusive situation that had been steadily but slowly building steam.

She didn't interrupt Wanda, and when Vision added his two cents from time to time, both women simply turned his way to hear him out. It wasn't until Wanda seemed to be out of anything else to add that the three of them sat in silence for a long while.

"So what do you want me to do about it?" K asked. "If she's got Stark paying for a lawyer to get rid of the deadbeat …"

"He shouldn't get away with hitting her," Wanda said.

"You want me to hit him?" K asked. "He sees me and the little twerp will shrink down to nothing."

"Wanda could stop that from happening," Vision suggested.

K looked between the two of them for a long moment. "Alright. You two have this figured out. Where do I come in?"

"I just know how you feel about guys that push," Wanda said. "And I can't … hold him from changing size and do that too. I need someone to give it back to him."

K didn't say anything, but she did, finally nod her head. "How did he hit her?"

"He backhanded her - when she voiced her concerns about how far into his work he was falling."

Vision had turned on one of the national broadcasts - one that was live - and contained an interview with half of the Avengers - Janet included - and K narrowed her eyes when she saw the bruising on Jan's face. It was clear as day - and not something she could have gotten while wearing her mask - which she did more often than not when she was fighting. They were talking about the break up of the gathering … and though she should have been paying attention to what was being said - K was focused on the very clear impression of where Hank Pym's wedding ring had made a distinctive sort of darker bruising near Jan's cheekbone, along with the outline of each finger on his hand.

"K," Vision prompted, jostling her out of her thoughts. She hadn't realized that she'd been growling low until he said her name.

"Sorry. Just … yeah. Absolutely. First chance we get to head down where your father doesn't have a stroke at the idea of me leaving your tower, princess … I'll … show you what the pattern is for Pym." K's tone shifted to one of pure distaste at the mere mention of Hank Pym, and though she didn't want to start anything with the Avengers, this … this was a special case.

* * *

For several weeks, K stayed with the twins while Wanda went on different missions to Earth with Erik - and though she loved the games they were playing, she didn't like being that cooped up for that long. But with nothing to focus on ahead of her but taking down Pym - and watching every bit of news coverage that had the Avengers in it to watch for more damage to Jan - she had a few dozen plans in place, ready to execute as soon as she and Wanda got anywhere near Pym.

She'd made the boys breakfast and had spoiled them just a little bit with chocolate chip pancakes when Wanda came in from an early meeting with her father - grinning even wider when Vision slid her a plate so she could join the boys too. "I got him to calm down, finally," Wanda said. "We're going down later today, and you and I have free time to ourselves."

K only nodded silently, though she was careful to try to keep a smile in place as the little ones were watching her carefully.

"Trubble?" Billy asked. "Biiiiig trubble."

"Maybe a little," K said finally, reaching over to ruffle his hair.

He smiled up at her crookedly before he went back to his breakfast - kicking the table leg nearest him and humming to himself.

When the boys were properly distracted, K and Wanda both gave them kisses, and then just for the reaction, K zipped over with Wanda to kiss Vision on the opposite cheek as Wanda did just before they dashed out of the family room and headed for the lockers.

"I see you are taking the 'auntie' title seriously," Vision said. "Does this make you her sister or mine?"

"I think … I'll stick with you," K said. "Otherwise, I'd have Pietro for a brother and that's just unacceptable."

Vision nodded at that. "Yes, that would be unpleasant," he said mildly, though he was almost smiling as he said it.

The two of them went down with Pietro and Emma - though Wanda had been sure to mask her thoughts from Emma carefully - and the blonde bimbo couldn't read K's mind without a lot of assistance anyhow. Which seemed to irritate Emma more than usual.

"I thought she was supposed to stay under lock and key," Emma said with a sniff.

"And I thought you were supposed to keep your mind on your own affairs," Wanda replied stiffly.

Wanda was smirking as Emma tipped her nose in the air and as the air started to shimmer slightly, she quickly shifted to her diamond form. "Do you think I can't stab you like that?" K asked, which even managed a little chuckle out of Pietro.

"You wouldn't dare," she replied icily.

"She would if we dared her," Pietro argued. "And I'm tempted."

Both K and Wanda turned his way, though his amused look slipped at that and he faced forward back to his usual self for the rest of the trip. As soon as they were on the ground, Wanda cast a little spell to hide them from everyone around them and the two women started toward downtown Manhattan.

"Hank has a bagel shop he hits almost every day a few hours late from what normal people would call lunch," K said. "And he complains every day when he hits it at the same time that the schools let out and it's flooded with teenagers. You think he'd I dunno. Get off his ass sooner to avoid them."

"That will never happen," Wanda muttered half under her breath.

"No," K agreed, nodding lightly. "It will not."

They didn't have long to wait, though … and before Hank could make his order, Wanda shifted her spell to reveal the two of them - chanting all the while to keep Hank to his usual size. He still hadn't seen them - even if half the people on the street had.

"Dr. Pym?" K said in her sweetest tone as she walked up on him, barely biting back a growl. He turned with a scowl on his face - irritated at being interrupted in anything - but when he saw who he was looking at, he took in a gasp of breath an instant before K made contact with as hard of a backhand as she could manage - splitting open the skin over his cheekbone with a hollow sounding crack. "I'm only sorry I'm not wearing a ring," she growled out before she simply started bashing him as hard as she could - backhanded only to be sure she got her point across.

The bones in his face were cracking with each adamantium laced blow, and his attempt to get her off of him only ended in broken fingers - and a fractured wrist for him as she neatly snapped them and kept. Going.

The crowd had moved back, giving them room as the strikes echoed the street, and the group around them backed off.

"You got about two seconds to get off of him before I start putting arrows in you. You'll heal, but they'll hurt, I promise you," a new voice rang out, and she glanced up for only a second to see that Hawkeye had his bow trained on her.

K looked up toward him with narrowed eyes. "You're backing up the wife beater?" she asked - then cracked Pym another one.

Clint shook his head. "Listen, I'd be lying if I said we hadn't all thought about hitting him, but you're point's made - back off. I can't let you commit a murder in the middle of the street, for crying out loud!"

K smirked at him, nodded once and then reached over to snap Hank's neck. "Oops."

Clint stared at her for just a second before he let out a noise of frustration an instant before he let the arrow fly - and was already reaching for another one. "What the he- you can't - what is  _wrong_ with you, lady? Whose side are you  _on_?"

"I take issues with men that hit women," K said as she started down the street. "Doesn't matter what side I'm on - they won't ever change." She yanked out the arrow he'd nailed her with. "This? This doesn't count. If it was in private - given your history … that wouldn't happen."

Clint fitted two arrows this time, one of which was clearly specialized, though he paused. "That's…" He couldn't quite find the words to argue that or even address the massive breach of privacy that had clearly happened, so he let the arrow fly, already chasing it and knowing the electric shock would be worse with the adamantium.

He did, however, pause before he could get to the downed K when he saw Wanda, and he gestured angrily at Hank. "Come on, Wanda, really?"

"She wasn't going to kill him until you told her not to," Wanda said.

"That's not an excuse - that's what toddlers say when you tell them not to eat cookies!" Clint said, throwing up one hand.

"He was hitting Jan for a long time," Wanda said. "She was hiding it. For him."

Clint narrowed his eyes at that, glanced at Hank, and then took a long time with his response. "Look," he said slowly. "Between you and me - and half a dozen spectators, apparently - that's good enough reason for a beat down. But we don't  _play executioner_ , and you know it."

"Clint, she is not now, and never has been an Avenger," Wanda said. "Ask Steve. Or Logan. Or Natasha. I'm sure they did the research on what she was and who used her."

"Oh, okay, so we just let people get away with public executions if they don't carry the card? Good to know," Clint said, his eyes narrowed.

"That's not what I'm saying," Wanda said, shaking her head. "Things are changing. And you know it."

"Yeah, I noticed," Clint said. "Wasn't too long ago this kind of stuff would be rare but now we've got vigilantes everywhere - and people trying to what, be her? Be  _you_?" Clint crossed his arms, the anger obvious to see. "In case you didn't notice, Wanda, the people they're killing lately ain't government types. They're people like  _me_."

Wanda looked upset at that. "I know. And this - this has nothing to do with that. I swear. I'm not behind people killing humans. And most of the time, she's the one that helps me keep that from happening. Unless … it's Weapon X types … then … that's a little different."

"Yeah, there's always an 'unless'," Clint muttered. "And then you bring her here to kill an Avenger and you think, what, that's just fine because he was a jerk?"

"Believe it or not, she's been the one to say that the Avengers are off the table," Wanda said. "And he's more than just a jerk."

"Of all the Avengers you could talk to,  _I'm_ the one you tell, Wanda," Clint said, shifting slightly with a more open look. "You tell me, and you know - you  _know_ \- that between me and Nat, he'd have lost his good name, every penny he has, and been stranded on some remote island where there aren't even bugs yet. Volcano's still rumbling and everything. Come on. You don't just…" He gestured toward Hank.

Wanda looked over at Hank and shook her head. "He wouldn't have lived through those injuries anyhow."

"You used to be better than this," Clint said. "You helped  _me_ be better than this." He shook his head as he walked toward K. "I used to love that about you, you know."

"I was just trying to do right by Jan," Wanda said. "I didn't even care about Hank by the time we got here. It wasn't right what he was doing to her. At all."

"It wasn't," Clint said, bending down to check K's pulse. "I'm not arguing that. But you just let the girl who ruined Cap's rep execute an Avenger. In public."

"You know that was all smoke, right?" Wanda said quietly.

"Yeah, I'm not an idiot, contrary to popular belief," Clint muttered back just as quietly.

"You should know she was furious with my father for that. And she hit him after the stunt in Chicago."

"Uh-huh." Clint stood up and straightened up a little more. "I notice none of your guys are dead on the street."

Wanda closed her eyes and shook her head. "No. And I'm sorry, but we're going around in circles. This was too far. I know."

"Then how about playing for the right team?" Clint asked. "Help me take her in - we'll stop the rest of them from going 'too far' together."

"You could take her in -and she'll be back out before dawn," Wanda said. "And besides … I promised my father I'd come back with her. My boys are waiting." She held out her hands, and focused hard on her unconscious friend as she clearly directed where she wanted K to go- and a moment later, K was simply gone. "She's a part of my family. I can't let her go."

"Used to say the same about us," Clint said softly.

"And I still love you too," Wanda promised. "But I'm focused on my boys and Vision more than anything else."

"Heard there's some cute kids upstate, you know. You don't have to hang out in space…"

"What are you talking about?" Wanda asked. "What kids does Xavier have that aren't teenagers?"

Clint shrugged, biting his lower lip as he regarded her. "You know they take kids that are physically mutated," he said at last - though he wasn't sure why, all things considered, he was protecting K. Except that these were little kids...

Wanda shook her head with a little frown. "Of course, but … I don't know what that has to do with anything."

"Just… Cap and Cyclops've been hanging out more."

"I'm sure that's a barrel of laughs," Wanda said.

"Yeah, when you sit next to Nat and listen to her under-the-breath commentary? It sure is," Clint pointed out. "I'm just saying; we've been over there a few times and the tiniest residents are a laugh riot. Completely incapacitated Wolverine. You should see it."

Wanda smiled lightly at that. "Hopefully, all this mess will blow over soon and then you can spend some time with my twins. They'd adore you, I'm sure."

"If they take after their mom, they'd have to. Good taste," Clint teased.

She smiled at him outright. "I miss you."

"The feeling is entirely mutual," Clint said.

She looked for a moment as if she was holding herself back from stepping forward to give him a hug when Pietro zipped over and let out a low whistle. "So this is what you were up to." He clapped a hand on Clint's shoulder. "Nice job stopping the big bad guys. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy."

Clint rolled his eyes - and his shoulder - as he turned away from Pietro. "Not my idea. I offered stranding on an island with an active volcano and no bugs…."

"Was that before or after he was dead?" Pietro asked.

"After - though to be fair, that was also when I found out how  _long_ he was making life-endangering decisions," Clint said, shaking his head.

Pietro shook his head at that. "Too slow, Hawkeye."

"Too predictable, Quicksilver. You used that gag last week - you need a new one."

"Still holds true," Pietro replied before he seemed to appear next to Wanda. "And we have places to be. Good luck!" In a flash - before Clint could reply, they were simply gone. Which left him alone to deal with the fallout.

When he made his way up to the tower, after the SHIELD crew had come to deal with Hank, the first person he saw was Steve. He shook his head on his approach. "I didn't get there before she was already hip-deep in bashing his brains out, Cap," he said. "Shoulda been faster, sorry."

"Not your fault," Steve said. "She's a killer anyhow."

Clint shook his head. "Wanda was with her. I tried to offer her a spot back on the team, but … no dice." He ran a hand through his hair. "Did  _you_ know Pym was hitting Jan? Not just the once, I mean…"

"I knew something was wrong, but I didnt' know it was an ongoing thing," Steve said with a deep frown. "How … where did this come from?"

"K got on my case about defending a wife-beater when I tried to stop her," Clint admitted. "Wanda backed her up on how long it was going on."

"I guess we better talk to Jan and find out how much of that's true," Steve said a bit softer. "But whatever the reason is, we need to bring her in."

"Yeah, I know," Clint said. "I had her down before Wanda and then Pietro stepped in it." He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair again. "I just… I gotta admit, Cap. I could probably have hustled a little more if I wasn't… almost… on her side." He frowned hard. "Don't get me wrong; I want to keep the badge. It's just…"

"No, I hear you," Steve said, sounding more serious. "The real problem here is that it was public, number  _one_ \- and it went too far."

Clint nodded. "Yeah, I know. She publicly executed an Avenger - and she wasn't nice about it." He let his shoulders drop. "But Steve… I'll be damned if I didn't think I'd've liked to do it myself when Wanda explained it."

"The difference," Steve said. "Was that it was your gut reaction .. and you know she's had to be sitting on this for a while. It looked completely premeditated."

"Pretty sure it was." Clint shook his head. "Wanda says she didn't know K was going to go that far - so you know."

"I've said that myself how many times about some of our other allies?" Steve said with a pointed look. "It's not smart to put someone like that on a vendetta hit."

Clint nodded his agreement and leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. "Oh. And interesting tidbit: Magneto's guys have  _no_ clue she's been sending young kids to Xavier's."

Steve blinked at him for a moment. "Excuse me?"

"Wanda was basically telling me she's sticking around for her kids, staying with the family, and I mentioned that there were little ones at Xavier's. The way she looked at me, you'd think I suggested that I had a second head."

Cap ran a hand over his face and let out all his breath as he thought about it. "Are you sure there aren't two of them?"

"Yeah, that was just about my reaction," Clint said, though before he could say anything else, he spotted Tony. "Hold on…" He took a few running steps over to Tony to put a finger in the center of his chest. "Told. You."

"Told me what?" Tony said, leaning back until he had to take a step away from Clint.

"That girl Magneto's got working for him? K? Beat Hank down in broad daylight."

"He was kind of asking for it," Tony said, tipping his chin up.

"He was, and yet you and I managed not to kill him on a daily basis," Clint pointed out. "I'm just saying… I was right."

Tony paused at that and shook his head. "No."

Clint put a hand on Tony's shoulder. "You kissed a murderer, Stark. That's, what, par for the course?"

"Not my first," he said, shaking his head. "There's gotta be more to this. I'm telling you."

"Oh, not arguing that. Just saying - you're batting a thousand, Tony." He grinned. "Just ask Pepper out, wouldja?  _She's_ not evil."

Tony gave him a dry look. "Shut up, Barton."

"Back me up, Steve! I'm right on this, aren't I?" Clint called over his shoulder.

"He probably just needs a near death experience to pull his head out," Steve called back. "So … you know. Go ahead. Ask the brunette out."

Clint winced one eye shut and shook his head at Tony. "Oooh, bad move. We want you breathing."

"As long as he shows her the paid bills for Jan's divorce lawyer, he'll probably be fine," Steve teased. "The audio just made the news, by the way."

Clint let out a sigh. "Okay, how bad does it look?"

"It looks like she's pissed off about him hitting Jan, and it looks like you're trying to be reasonable," Steve said. "But what do I know about press?"

"Yeah, clearly nothing if  _I_ am looking reasonable to your addled brain, Cap," Clint said.

"I hate to say it, but they're asking about what your history was, too," Steve said.

Clint froze at that and stared at Steve before he swore under his breath and backed off of Tony. "Where's Jan?" he asked, already redirecting.

"She's in my lab," Tony said. "Spinning."

"Yeah. Okay. I'll be there if you - you know what, please don't need me," Clint said, already headed down. "I'm done."

Tony didn't argue it one bit -mostly because he was focused on the frankly  _graphic_ video that was being played on the news - accompanied now with the most recent pictures of Jan from Chicago with the bruises… and incoming statements from old lab assistants already talking about how hard Hank was to work with and how awful he was not only to Jan, who all parties said was a joy, but to his assistants as well.

Of course, Jan didn't see any of the coverage in Tony's lab, where she was sitting on one of the work stools and just sort of… spinning, like Tony had said.

Clint cleared his throat to let her know he was there before he crossed the room once she looked up and pulled her into a long hug, even going so far as to kiss the top of her head once he had her there.

"Jan, I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I should've known and stuck an arrow in him ages ago."

She shook her head, but didn't have anything to respond with, instead simply curling in. "I didn't want him  _dead._ "

"I know," Clint said. "I shoulda got there sooner. I know."

"Not your fault," she said quietly.

"Cap already said that," Clint said. "But still… speaking ill of the dead aside… if I'd known, I would have stranded him in space or… made him live with my brother or something."

"Oh,  _no_ ," Jan said as dramatically as she was able.

"I know. I'm incredibly evil. Tony's lucky I'm here or I'd be in assassin mode all over again," he teased gently, getting a little breathy laugh out of her.

"It'll be fine, Clint … it was just … it was a shock. For the way he was acting, it was almost like he was dead already. I just … wasn't expecting Wanda to pull someone in …"

"Adamantium to the head? He was out of it fast," Clint said. He paused. "And, for what it's worth, I talked to Wanda after and… she swears up and down that she didn't intend for this to be an assassination. She just… wanted to do right by you." He hugged her a little tighter. "Pretty sure we all do, Jan."

When Jan simply responded by holding on a little tighter, Clint let out a breath and rearranged the way they were standing so that he could more or less scoop her up - and let her hang on as long as she needed to.


	13. Demon Catnip

When the news of Hank Pym's sudden death made the rounds, Erik was, of course, overly pleased with how K and Wanda had handled Hank Pym - more so when he heard how Pym had been hitting his wife. He'd been  _so_ pleased with it that he shifted his position slightly to bring K with him in Wanda's place so she could spend more time with the twins. The little woman had inadvertently gotten a fan base of her own that was vocal - and active. After seeing and hearing that how she handled Pym was her stance on wife beaters … the female population backing both her and Magneto skyrocketed.

They had just come back from another rally, and were greeted by an absolutely unusual occurrence.

"You … you have a visitor," Mastermind said as Magneto and K stepped onto the platform. The doors had just closed behind them and K couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the idea. No one could visit Avalon. Not without setting off all kinds of defenses - and it was plain that had not been the case.

"How?" K asked, frowning at the idea as Emma joined them looking irritated.

"I think I'm more inclined to ask  _who_ ," Erik said, pausing before he tipped his head for K to join him.

She nodded, falling into step ahead of him as the first defensive line - as they often did when going to meet with anyone of unknown powers, but when they turned the corner into the room that their guest was waiting in, K stopped short. The only thing that got her moving again was the fast that Erik laid a hand on her shoulder from behind urging her to move.

"I take it you've met?" Erik said, mostly to K, though he kept his focus on the tall, dark haired man that was grinning in the most unsettling way at seeing her there.

"Sir Vrykolakas," K said, tipping her head, though she was kind enough not to bust him out on his appearance to start with.

"Oh," Emma said, warming up suddenly. "The one you let slip away. How grand. I thought you weren't interested in joining the cause."

"Admittedly, that was before I saw how serious you were about changing the world's viewpoint," Vrykolakas replied, smiling at K, and not yet even looking at Magneto or Emma. "Recent events have drawn my interest."

"And what is it that you are gifted with?" Erik asked, still not having decided if he appreciated how Vrykolakas had simply invited himself to his domain.

Vrykolakas held his arms out wide and grinned as he finally turned toward Erik. "I thought you would have deciphered half of it yourself," he said before he teleported over to where Erik and K were. "I am a teleporter. The most powerful teleporter on our little mudball."

"And what is the other half?" Erik asked, his interest obviously piqued.

Vrykolakas smiled wider then shifted his form to that of the red-skinned, yellow eyed demon - his tail swaying slowly behind him. "I am also a shapeshifter, though this …" he gestured to himself. "Is my true form."

Erik raised an eyebrow at that, obviously unsure if the visual of a demon would help them or not - though they needed someone that was diametrically opposed to the image that the X-Men had in their Angel. Of course, if this Vrykolakas could be seen doing good ...that would certainly do their image of misunderstood mutants wonders. "Very well," he said finally before he gestured to Mastermind. "Ms. Frost will give you the tour and find you a room-"

"Though I am quite sure your White Queen is certainly a reasonable guide, I'd much prefer someone more … charming," Vrykolakas said, once again, smiling toward K. He didn't wait for any of them to agree or disagree before he reached out and took K by the elbow, pulling her to go with him.

She looked up at him with a little frown, though as they took the first few steps into the standard tour, Emma let out a pained sort of sound and fell to her knees, clutching her head. "Shame she's never learned to mind her own business," Vrykolakas said, whisper quiet as he smirked wider at K.

"I'm not sure that's the word I'd use," K said, tipping her head toward their first turn.

"Of course not," he agreed. "Far more fitting when they find out the hard way."

She shook her head at that and did her best to show him around, but of course, by the time they got around to where he'd be staying, he tutted and turned her to face him. "And where is your room."

"In the least inhabited part of Avalon," K replied. "I have a lovely view of the curvature of the earth."

He peeked into his room to find a less than stellar view of nothing but the black abyss of space. "And where is my son?" he asked low, taking her hands in his. "I know you took the boy. I watched you with him - you truly took to caring for him in stride. You are a natural. But ... I need to know if he's here."

K frowned at that as his tail snaked around her waist. "He's not," she replied, straightening up and tensing her muscles at the sensation of his tail snaking around her.

"Even for as much as you cared for him, you sent him away," he said slowly, studying her. "To the same place as the other boy. You trust  _them_ with children more than your own allies."

She started to pull back, but he didn't let her go, holding her steady. "Don't worry, my dear girl. I won't tell them about your little secret. It's just … very interesting." He smiled wider and in a poof of smoke - the view was changed to a more open area. K was overly dizzy, instinctively reaching out to hold onto him to steady herself. "Do you drink red wine?"

"I do," she said, more than a little confused by his change in subject. "But only if it's dry, and  _that_ is not something that's easy to find here."

"Pity," Vrykolakas said low, then pulled her tighter to himself before he teleported again - and this time, when the smoke cleared, it was to the sound of the ocean and a warm breeze slipping through the jungle trees. "It's a good thing that I don't need to rely on the great  _Magneto's_ stores." He waited for her to open her eyes and look around them. She was honestly shocked to find they were somewhere in the Caribbean sea. As soon as she registered where they were, he stepped back slightly, took her hand, and then pulled her along with him. "Now … should you tire of being locked up looking down at the sea, you need only to say the word to join me here. However, I should warn you - it's too far from other islands to try and swim to shore, I'm afraid. Particularly with that amazing skeleton of yours. It must have been perfectly dreadful to acquire, yet … you are still here." He took her through the sprawling estate and into the wine cellar, then offered her two different bottles to choose from. She frowned and tipped her chin toward one and a moment later, they were back on Avalon - in her room with the sweeping view of the earth.

He used his tail to pull the cork, and quietly set two glasses down that he  _must_ have picked up on the island. "To what I hope will be a long and productive merger." He poured the wine and deftly handed her a glass, smiling still.

She looked down into the glass and took a long sniff - not touching it yet as she swirled it in the glass. "If this is an attempt to liquor me up-"

"No, of course not," he replied, sounding almost insulted. "I wouldn't stoop to such levels for such a challenging conquest. And I'm fully aware that I'd need  _far_ more than a single bottle … though I believe that your particular set of talents - and powers combined - are just as rare as this vintage of  _Chateau Margaux_."

"I'm not making a deal," K said. "I think I'm doing alright."

"My darling girl, I'm not trying to broker a deal …  _yet_. No, I'm simply trying to get better acquainted with who I am  _sure_ will be my most reliable team-mate while Pietro plays with the little blonde and the darling Ms. Maximoff stays with her brood."

K was swirling her wine a bit slower as she watched it slide up the sides of the glass before finally, she nodded her head and raised her glass to him. "I think you may be right."

Vrykolakas watched as she lifted the glass to her lips, pausing as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath through her nose and parted lips that sent goosebumps over her skin. In that scent she picked up notes of oak, pepper, and blackberries. The first sip was just that - a tiny sip as she breathed deeply again, and all the scents changed slightly with the taste. She couldn't help but to smile on tasting it as the goosebumps persisted. "Elegant," K said softly before she opened her eyes to find he, too was midway through a taste, nodding already.

"You'll find that my tastes are always steeped in excellence," Vrykolakas replied before he picked up the bottle and finished the pour on both glasses then once again wrapped his tail around her waist to pull her with him to the little table near the window as he carried the wine. "Come, my dear. You are a captivating creature, and we have a one-of-a-kind  _open_ bottle of one of my finest wines between us. It would be disgraceful not to finish it together."

Against her better judgement, K inclined her head to him and let him lead her over, even smiling slightly when he was sure to pull her chair for her, lingering for just a moment over her shoulder before he crossed the short span to sit next to her while they finished the bottle of wine.

* * *

Vrykolakas' prediction, was of course right - and the first time that he was sent with the group to head to a rally, he was indeed paired off with K, though it was clear that he was irritated with how long it took to get to the ground. Even Pietro was frowning at him for as bored as he looked.

Before they came close to landing, K reached over to rest a hand on Vrykolakas' arm. "We're almost done waiting. Don't be like Pietro. I'll have to hit you if you do that."

"That didn't go too well for the last guy," Pietro deadpanned, though he was smirking.

"I just don't want to be stuck in a small space with two of you," K said to Pietro - though she said it as slowly as she could just to watch him squirm.

As soon as they landed, the doors to the transport opened and Pietro zipped out - only to be entirely irritated to find that there was a red cloud of smoke ahead of him where Vrykolakas and K were  _waiting_ for him. "Too slow, Maximoff," Vrykolakas said in an even tone - already knowing that it was Pietro's favorite line and the look on his face was worth the set up.

K smiled at Pietro - or more accurately, the level of irritation he had going on as Magneto and Frost caught up, and moments later, K's smile slipped from her face when the sadistic grin of Victor Creed caught her attention from the far side of the stage. Vrykolakas followed her gaze and slowly turned back as K blanched, her pulse picking up slightly as she turned away from Sabretooth and looked instead toward the people in the crowd. In no time at all, Erik was hip-deep in his speech, which at least meant that most of the lower ranking Brotherhood members were to stay close to the stage - and that meant Sabretooth wouldn't be a thorn in her side. For now.

Erik was part way through another story telling session of his days in concentration camps when K started to walk away from the stage, watching the crowd as she stalked along the edges. It was bound to get wild fast. The mutants in the crowd were all engaged and staring up at Erik waiting to hear whatever honeyed words dripped from his mouth, but outside of the crowd for the rally, there was a separation of twenty yards before the human protesters were seen lining up their own crowd.

There was a lot of yelling and horrible things being shouted, though surprisingly, many of the threats and shouts fell quiet as K passed them by, not from a distance as Pietro was doing on the opposite side of the crowd, but stalking within a few feet of them and glaring down the ones that had been shouting the nastiest things to the mutants in attendance. "You should leave," K said, stopping in front of one section of the crowd that wasn't being disruptive - only quietly protesting. "Go home, please."

"We have a right to be here," one of them said angrily.

"Yes, but you should still  _go. Home."_ She met his gaze and held it until he backed up a step. "It's not a threat. It's friendly advice. These rallies are known for their trouble, and you seem too nice to get caught up. Get away from the crowd and be safe." However, when one of the more vocal protesters screamed a few choice names her way, she locked her jaw and simply cracked him in the mouth when he got too close, shouting over her shoulder.

But at that, she simply started walking again. She'd tried to warn them. That was all she could do, really.

It was no shock when she saw the Avengers quinjet land several blocks down to join the X-Men who were already trying to disperse the crowd and picking Brotherhood members to keep an eye on. So far, no one had come her way, but with backup, that was bound to change. She let out a breath because it was sure to be a problem sooner than later, and frankly, K wasn't in the mood to put up with all of this. Their timing, as always, was impeccably bad.

The speech in the rally began to reach a crescendo and as it did, a pair of giant robots flew in and landed on either side of the stage. At first, the mutants in attendance started to panic - and the humans were cheering … until the prime directive echoed the darkening sky over the crowd. Identifying  _non-mutants_ for termination.

For just a moment, a hushed sort of silence conveyed both the confusion from the mutants - and the horror from the humans at what was going on - and it was the perfect display to not only the crowd, but to the Avengers that had shown up exactly how terrifying it was to know that there were robotic monsters designed to kill or capture you based on genetics alone.

The same genetic filtering that the sentinels used had simply been reversed, marking mutants as safe and everything else as a threat. The mutants in the park didn't know how to react at first, but as soon as the first human was picked up … those not bearing an x-gene started to run. And Sabretooth's laughter was easily heard from the far side of the crowd.

K climbed up a lamp post to watch over the crowd. Many had brought their kids to the rally, and though Erik had gone forward with his plan, K was against it from his first suggestion. She was acutely aware that not all kids to mutants were going to  _be_ mutants too. Which meant she was likely going to have work to do. The X-Men were already breaking off into fights with the various Brotherhood members, and the Avengers were diving in to help them - directing the crowds  _out_ and engaging whoever was open on Magneto's side.

How no one had seen her yet - or gone after her following the Pym incident - she really wasn't sure, but if they kept to their own business, she'd be able to ignore the fight all together and look for the little ones that were sure to be in trouble.

With both Avengers and X-Men fighting the Brotherhood, the mutants that had shown up to the rally began to panic too. Experiences of their own had them already well versed in running from sentinels. Add to that the fact that Erik's smear campaign against the Avengers was  _working_  … and it made K's self appointed job that much harder.

When she did finally spot a kid in trouble, her heart leapt, and she barely had to  _think_ for Vrykolakas to appear. Without a word spoken, he grabbed her around the waist and took her to where she'd spotted trouble. The first rescue was a shock, however. The girl was clearly not-human looking, and had suffered broken ribs and a shattered leg when the sentinel that had her - no - the sentinel that was  _crushing her_ had been hit by Cyclops' optic blast. More sentinels were flying in - chanting for the humans to not fight, and the girl was in a positive panic.

"But … I'm a mutant," she said in a gasp, clearly terrified as she grasped on to K. "There are other options," K said, blocking her from the sentinel as it raised its hand toward the little group and demanded K to move.

"Step aside, mutant," the robot ordered. "There are humans to be apprehended." K turned toward not just the girl, but Vrykolakas too. The robot had said humans.  _Plural_. But mutant was not. For an instant, Vrykolakas' lip curled back and a snarl slipped past, but before K could open her mouth to ask the question on her mind, he was quick to disappear with the terrified green scale-coated teenager.

The sentinel changed directions almost immediately, and that had K more irritated as she started pushing her way through the crowd. It was no shock when she found a blonde woman trampled to death, and she swore outright when she saw the woman was holding a sweatshirt for a smaller person. Which meant that there was a kid. Lost in the crowd somewhere. K bit her lip and immediately started scanning the crowd more carefully. The child couldn't be of school-age yet, a for as short as K was, being on the ground - in the middle of a much taller crowd wasn't exactly an easy job to get a vantage point.

She did, however, see that the Avengers had gotten closer to try and help get everyone to safety - and considering none of them were mutants either, she was halfway watching out for them, too. The closest one to the action was Hawkeye, amazingly. He was perched far above the crowd in a solid vantage point and it was clear to K that he was calling out trouble spots on the comm for the others to get in and help. Which at least got K to relax a little bit. He'd be able to spot trouble, and she could track it down. So with that in mind, she let out a slow breath between her lips and refocused on the task at hand - finding the little boy that owned the sweatshirt still clenched in her hand.

Hawkeye was working fast calling out trouble, and had just called in a pair of teenagers that needed an Iron Man pickup from where they were pinned by the crowd trying to exit the rally's narrow gate when he saw K and the sweatshirt she was holding. After a quick doubletake, he paused, then glanced around before curiosity got the better of him. "Yours? Wanda's? What's the story?"

K picked the sweatshirt up to her nose and took a deep breath, shaking her head at him. "No. I don't have any kids …. And hers aren't here … Just … I don't  _know_ this one… but I think the mother was something … different." She spared him a quick look then turned her head and closed her eyes, swearing outright at the jumble of scents before she crouched down and tried again. When she caught a matching scent under the stampede worth of other scents, K darted off, weaving between people low.

Clint frowned at that and tried to follow her path back, though when he spotted the dead, green-skinned woman, he swore under his breath and started to track K with his arrow - keeping her path clear as she looked for whoever had belonged to that woman.

K worked her way through the crowd and then to the edge of it, where she found a little blonde boy tucked up under a park bench. As she got up to him, she swore as one of the massive sentinels started scanning the area. She didn't wait for the robot to get to the little boy before she picked him up fast and wrapped herself around him. She turned her back to the robot just as the lasers scanned her back - missing the little boy entirely.

Which was of course when her partner's voice echoed in her head - independent of the comms.  _How terribly unshocking_ , Vrykolakas projected to her, his disdain clear even in his mental voice.  _What is it about this one that draws your attention, my dear?_

K frowned and searched the area until she spotted him - beyond Hawkeye, and smirking her way. She met his gaze and gave him a dry look. "He's small and scared," she said before she turned her attention from Vrykolakas and softened her stance as she tipped her head to look at the little boy. "Hey, big guy. Are you alright?" She shifted the little boy in her arms so he wasn't quite so balled up in front of her. "I found your sweatshirt."

The little boy glanced up at K, frowned, and then tucked back in, shaking his head. "I don' want it," he whispered. "I gaved it to Mom."

K snuggled him under her chin and took a seat on the bench, completely focused on the little boy. "Alright. Are you hurt?" She was flat out ignoring the pandemonium around them as she focused on the blonde, tucking the sweatshirt away next to her and concentrating on his scent to monitor his tension levels.

The little guy nodded. "I scraped my knees," he whispered. "When I fall down."

She leaned back to look at his knees, sure to make the right amount of fuss and sympathy before she offered him her hand to shake. "I think we can find someone to fix that up. I'm K. What's your name?"

"I'm … I'm Teddy," he whispered quietly.

"Like a teddy bear?" she said back almost as softly.

He shook his head. "No, like Theodore, but that's looong."

"It really is," she agreed, though she glanced over to where she knew Hawkeye was still watching her. "Do you have a favorite Avenger? Because I see one right now."

Teddy's eyes widened, and he nodded quietly. "Yeah… I like Thor," he whispered.

"Thor is  _very_ cool," K agreed. "I don't know which one I like best. Maybe Iron Man. Or Captain America. It changes all the time."

"Okay," Teddy said, nodding quietly. "Maybe you figgur it out one day."

"Maybe," she agreed before she tipped her head toward Clint. "What about the purple one? He's always right up front, covering Captain America."

Teddy giggled. "Tha's Hawkeye," he said. "Not purple guy!"

"But he likes purple. Or he wouldn't wear it, right?" K asked, waving for Clint to come over.

"I guess so," Teddy said, nodding slowly.

Teddy had just tucked back into K when Clint arrived, his head tipped to the side and understandably a little wary - especially since the handoffs with kids usually happened with the X-Men.

"Do you have anything that Teddy can use to fix his scraped up knees, Hawkeye?" K asked, letting Teddy snuggle in.

Clint nodded. "Oh sure. We've got Band-aids on the Quinjet." He waved at the little guy. "Just plain white, though."

"I'll bet if you ask, Hawkeye will give you a pen to draw on them," K said.

Teddy glanced up. "Wouldja?"

"Sure," Clint said with an easy smile. "I'll do you one better and see if I can find some Captain America Band-aids at the tower. Iron Man's got a box. Says Cap should wear them. It's great."

"I'll bet Iron Man has a  _bunch_ of them on himself," K whispered to Teddy. "Secret stars and stripes."

"That's silly," Teddy giggled.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "It'd only be silly if he has a Captain America tattoo on his butt. That would be weird."

Teddy wrinkled his nose. "Why would he do that?"

"Because Iron Man is secretly an idiot," Clint said.

K pulled a face and mouthed out 'not so secret.'

Clint chuckled at that and then crouched slightly so he was at the kid's eye level. "You okay besides the knees? I get banged up plenty, so if you're embarrassed, I promise - I've had worse."

Teddy shook his head. "I'm okay," he whispered, still hanging onto K.

K looked up at Clint almost apologetically. "I can carry him over for you, but I don't think he should go up to Avalon."

Clint paused at that, but nodded. "Okay. I'll bet Wasp will clean up those scrapes fast. She's really gentle about it, too. I would know. She helps me sometimes."

Tedde smiled and tried to hide his face in K's shoulder for a moment. "Oh, come on, Teddy-not-a-bear," K said. "If you can't trust Hawkeye, who can you trust?"

Clint's eyebrows rose, but he schooled his expression as Teddy came uncurled from K's lap and turned his way and waved sheepishly, his shoulders scrunched up nearly to his ears. "Hi."

Clint smirked and offered him his hand. "Wanna go meet the Wasp?"

He looked back at K, who was smiling encouragingly and nodding. "O-kay," he said slowly before he slipped off of K's lap and took Hawkeye's hand.

She waved at Teddy and slipped Clint the sweatshirt, but otherwise stayed where she was, hands on her knees as they headed off. They didn't get far, of course, before Clint picked him up and started to jog toward the quinjet - and the acrid scent of brimstone once again flooded K's senses as a red cloud surrounded her.

K closed her eyes and shrugged her shoulders to her ears as Vrykolakas put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. "That was enlightening, my dear," he said.

"Yes, I still care about little kids. Shocking, I'm sure."

"Not the part I was focused on," he replied smoothly, which got her to turn his way with a little frown. "Alright, it was at least half of what I was focused on."

She shook her head but rather than try and correct him on his possessive stance, K simply got up and started toward the stage again. "Pretty sure we have work to do, still," K told him over her shoulder, but that only earned a broad grin from him before he teleported away.

K rolled her eyes at him and went back to her hunt for kids in trouble, eyes open and ignoring the fights around her. She saw a single, small tennis shoe fifty yards ahead of her and she locked onto it and started toward it. She was so focused on it, she didn't notice any of the Avengers near her target. Not when she was worried about finding a kid that would fit it.

She stopped short and backed up a pace as Sabretooth and Wolverine tumbled past her - even past their usual snarls and roars and down to feverishly trying to tear each other to shreds. Both of them were worn out and had been bleeding heavily, but she really didn't want any part of that smoking hot mess.

 _Focus_ , she thought to herself then drew in a deep breath and pushed ahead. She picked up the shoe and was looking around the little outcropping of trees - searching for the matching scent until -

"Hey!"

K turned, swore, and ducked as Steve's shield soared just over her head, the wind blowing her hair out of place as it did so. "You aren't going anywhere, lady," Steve called out.

"I'm not fighting you," K said.

"Good. Turn yourself in."

"No- I'm looking for someone," she said, raising the shoe so he could see it. "I don't have  _time_ for this right now."

"Well that's just too bad," Steve said, rushing toward her. "Hawkeye's keeping watch for any more kids - Jan too, but you? You're coming in."

She stopped her search and turned to face him, looking incredulous. "Not to argue with you too hard? But go to hell," she shot back.

"You murdered an Avenger. Publicly."

"He hit his wife," K said in an icy tone that conveyed exactly what she thought about that. "He got better than he deserved."

"That  _wasn't_ your call," Steve shouted, and it was clear by his tone that he was well beyond simply angry.

"No," K agreed as she picked up his shield and half heartedly tossed it toward him. "But she was one of your close friends. And no one stopped him. All of you  _heroes_ living there together - you were in close quarters and not a one of you figured it out while it was happening. Not until he decided to throw her away. I'm not sorry. I'd do it again in a heartbeat." She fixed him with a look and simply started to walk away, though she didn't get far before he closed the distance and flat out tackled her, sure to keep her hands away from him, and to keep her from getting any leverage.

"I said you're coming in," Steve managed between his teeth as he put his knee between her shoulder blades and knelt there. When he grabbed her wrist to pull it back, she let out a growl and popped her claws, which at least got him to stop for a moment. He had a hold of both of her wrists, but he couldn't really  _do anything_ without back up. Even if it was clear he was stronger and outweighed her. Any little bit he gave her to try and maneuver her, she fought him and simply made it harder for him to do his job.

Even with that though, she was a handful, and it wasn't until she saw Beast making his way over with a collar did she start to actually panic. She retracted her claws when he knelt down and started panicking. She knew that if she didn't heal fast from the claws that the collar would let her bleed enough to pass out, and that … she wasn't going to let that happen.

When Beast tried to snap the collar on, she tried to bite him, which only had Steve swearing and  _again_ telling her to just go peacefully. But like it or not, she knew that he wouldn't listen to  _sense_. And if SHIELD got a hold of her, she'd be in the same boat she was in before Magneto pulled her from the arctic. "We're not going to hurt you," Steve insisted, but K was hyperventilating and  _begging_ them to let her up by the time the collar was snapped into place.

But even that was short lived when there was a now-familiar  _bamf_ followed closely by a roar from Hank when Vrykolakas sunk a sword into his back and stabbed another toward Steve, who only missed being skewered by leaning far enough backward that he slipped off of K.

And she didn't look back - totally abandoning the scene as she ran toward where Magneto had told them to meet up. Vrykolakas dove into the fight, intent on killing an Avenger, though once Steve picked his shield back up, the fight evened out a bit while swords clanged against the vibranium shield. "Tony!" Steve called out into his comm as he raised the shield - and then turned the moment that Vrykolakas disappeared in a poof. "This guy's all over the place!"

"On my way," Tony promised, though he wasn't having any more luck when it came to getting a fix on the teleporter as he cackled and took pot-shots at Steve.

Once Vrykolakas realized he had  _three_ of them teaming up, he disappeared only to reappear with an arm around Tony's neck a moment before he wedged a sword between the plates in his ceramic armor. As Tony let out a cry of pain and surprise, Vrykolakas teleported him around the entire rally - a hundred yards at a time, and over a dozen teleports all in the span of less than half a minute. When he dropped him, Tony was entirely confused, hurting - and his tech was fritzing out as it tried to re-configure itself.

But Vrykolakas didn't stick around either - instead going right into the heart of the action to start tearing into humans with glee - a sword in each hand, cutting down the most vocal of the opposition - and the ones that were praying the most vehemently as well.

He had worked his way around to the edge of the stage when he was attacked by one of the sentinels, and though K was the closest one to see it, she absolutely froze for a moment. She had hoped that she'd misheard the sentinel when she was by the little boy. This was something she'd rather be wrong about, but it was desperately clear that by the genetic scans - he wasn't a mutant.

Still, she rushed forward and cut the robot at the wrist before it could get a hold of Vrykolakas. He was furious, though when he realized that she had dismembered the robots hand, he couldn't stop the smile just before he pulled her to him and teleported them both well out of harm's way, and incidentally, far from the crowds.

He pulled her tighter to steal a kiss that was shorter lived than he would've liked. "What was that for?" she asked, pushing back from him.

"Standard procedure," Vrykolakas replied with a grin. "Take it as you wish. Either it was for saving you from being imprisoned by SHIELD, or for you saving me from a great deal of pain. If you take it as claiming a prize or simply conveying my gratitude, it makes no difference to me."

Her expression went entirely neutral and she reached up to pull the collar off, but her hands were slicked in blood from her claws, and she froze when he reached around her to release the clasp for her. "That's better now, isn't it?" he purred out, and for a moment, she couldn't even form a thought on how to deal with him.

He hadn't moved, and looked as if he had no intentions to, when a scream ripped over the din … back where the action was still rolling. "We need to get back, but you need to stay away from those sentinels." She met his gaze and put a hand against the center of his chest to keep him from leaning in again. "Next time, warn me before you do that."

"Or you can simply keep in mind that I will do that much at least when assistance is granted either way," he replied with a note of clear troublemaking in his voice.

K paused at that but quickly pushed it out of her mind since … they still had to get back to work, or at least to the exit point, and instead of responding to him and his sass, she let him pull her close again to teleport out.

The battle lines were clearly drawn when they appeared back at the rally. More of Magneto's followers had solidified their resistance to the small group of Avengers - that were being backed up by a few of the X-Men. The robots had been destroyed - one split cleanly in half by Cyclops and another nearby had its head cut off and all of the wires yanked out of it.

As K and Vrykolakas took their place near Erik and Pietro, a familiar, gravelly voice echoed out - taunting Wolverine. There were growls from both lines, though K hadn't joined in as Sabretooth stood behind her trying to get Wolverine to break the line. As Creed put his hand on K's shoulder, the growls intensified - and she pulled a face as she shrugged him off, but he clearly didn't get the message.

Clint had rejoined the fight and was shouting that none of Magneto's side had lost any real blood in the field just as Sabretooth rested his hand on K's hip. There was a ringing  _snikt_ followed by a thump as Sabretooth howled in fury and pain and both sides of the line seemed thunderstruck for a moment - turning to watch the show. K glanced over her shoulder at Creed and beat him to pick up his hand, holding it away from him as she finally let her growl loose - low and rumbling as it accented her words.

" _This is mine now_ ," she growled out low to him in her most dangerous tone, though it was loud enough for most to hear in the stunned silence. "Take it as a warning, Creed. If you touch me with any  _other_ part of your body, I'll cut that off and hang it from my rear-view mirror, you got me?"

To most of those nearest - and the entire line of Avengers and X-Men - it was a total shock. Particularly when K didn't let go of Sabretooth's severed hand as she stalked off away from the line up. She was keeping it. At least long enough that Sabretooth couldn't re-attach it. She didn't look over her shoulder at either side, and she didn't wait for permission. She was pretty sure her point had been made.


	14. Hell Over Earth

All was well and good on the way to the transport to Avalon … until K spotted a little kid that was laying perfectly still on the concrete, not far from where the rally had taken place. She froze when she saw the little one, then rushed to her only to go into panic mode with her ears ringing when she realized the little one had no heart beat. She knelt next to her and called for help - there were plenty of emergency services around, but where this kid was - half behind a building, and blocked from the street by trash cans - they clearly didn't see her.

A pair of medics saw her come up to where the kid was, but it wasn't until K had started trying to revive the little one that they swore and grabbed their gear to come and help. Which was how Erik found her on his way through - on her knees helping the medics to do CPR while one of them set up the leads and monitoring devices to see what the story was. All of them were wearing identical expressions, and Erik paused a respectable distance away to watch. Any of his followers that came through that  _might_ have had something snide to say stopped when they spotted her trying to revive the little girl, and for a moment, it was clear that at least Erik and his family were not pleased with what had happened to that child.

As soon as the kid was on the monitors and packed up to go, the medics rushed her to the ambulance leaving K on her knees trying to catch her breath. She wasn't expecting  _Pietro_ of all people to slowly come forward and put his arm around her shoulders to get her to her feet.

He didn't have a word to say, but the tight, tense look on his face spoke volumes of what he was thinking. The little girl had the same wide, blue eyes that both Maximoff twins had - and her hair was long and blonde. And even though Pietro knew there was no way that this child was his little Luna, the rough resemblance was enough to set him back and knock him silent.

The mood going up to Avalon in Magneto's transport with Pietro and K was a somber one, and K had more or less made up her mind to talk to Erik later about the close call she had with Captain America, but he beat her to it.

"Had you kept away from the Avengers, like you said you were going to," Erik said, immediately getting a look of almost horror from Pietro, "... then you might have been able to get to that child much faster."

"Father, no," Pietro said, shaking his head as he dove in to argue with him. "Before you saw that kid, you were hell bent on getting after her for not fighting the X-Men. Just … stop. You can't have it both ways, and she was doing the right thing."

K frowned, pulled from her thoughts by that. She hadn't expected Pietro to ever have  _defended_ her over anything. But … she'd never really expected to find herself in a position where Captain America was trying to make her eat dirt either. "You told me you had things covered," K said in a low, even tone. "I don't carry a general communicator since you dropped those and elected to have the White Bitch serve as a link up for the team - which, incidentally, she can't reach out to me."

"That's only because you won't allow her to," Erik pointed out.

"Yes, because you're in a rush to let her into  _your_ head, too," K said, her dander rising. "The woman is screwing with your game and your strategy. She's a neon bright liability and you know it."

"She's also incredibly useful to me for now," Erik snapped. "Which is more than I can say for you if you don't want to fight."

K bristled. "I've been by your side helping you streamline your strategies-"

"I don't need your help in that area," Erik said quickly, cutting her off. "And I don't need you saving children that will only grow up with a vendetta to fulfil."

"Then quit killing their families!" K snapped with a snarl, and a moment later, the next thing she knew, Pietro was holding her up and trying to get her to relax.

Instead of stretching her out like Erik usually did as if she was on a rack, he forced her to extract her claws - and then bent one almost to a ninety degree angle. Of course, that wasn't all he'd done, compressing her ribs and spine for a moment before Pietro stopped him.

And now, the speedster was doing all he could to get her to just …  _breathe._  K's hands were shaking and Pietro tried to get her to  _not_ look at her hand, even going so far as to take the shock blanket from their craft and wrapped her arm up to at least keep her from having to see it. He was seated on the floor of the craft with K practically in his lap - one arm around her torso, holding her arms down, and his other hand holding her wrist as he spoke low and quick, drawing her attention even after she managed to quit making sounds of sheer pain.

"I have no intention of hurting you, my dear," Erik said, not even looking her way. "But I  _can_ and  _will_ if you continue to disobey me."

* * *

Tony was in rough shape, even after they got him back to the tower. The stab wound from Vrykolakas was deep - and Steve had Natasha searching every database known to man to find out who this newcomer was. He was livid, and there was no way he was going to watch another Avenger  _die_ because of one of Magneto's followers.

The armor had been rough to get off of him, and once it  _was_ off, the triage to stop the bleeding was enough to have most of the Avengers upset as Tony didn't stay conscious long.

But while he and Dr. McCoy both were being stitched up for far more serious injuries than they were used to seeing, Steve and Scott were putting their heads together.

"I'm making it a priority," Steve said. "I want her brought in, and I want it done now. Fury promised me that SHIELD has a cell that can hold her. We just need to put her in it."

Scott paused, a frown on his face as he watched Steve pace, and though the very last thing he wanted to do was to contradict one of his childhood idols … he simply couldn't let Cap think that all was well with that plan. "Captain Rogers, I'm sorry, but you  _can't_ let SHIELD get their hands on her."

Steve turned toward Scott with a frown as Scott held up both hands to get him to slow down. "SHIELD has an extensive record of brainwashing and forcing people to do their bidding. Logan's had to put up with it recently, and when he was done with one of  _Fury's deals_ , he took the time to do a little digging of his own. They have plans for her, yes. But it's not to simply hold her. They have controls they want to utilize and make the most out of what they're calling a 'loose asset'. They're looking at it as a means to recover a  _weapon_."

Steve narrowed his eyes as Logan stepped in to continue where Scott left off. "SHIELD has protocols in place if she's captured. They were originally intended for me, but seeing as the X-Men are looking more like the good guys … she's up."

"What's the idea?" Steve asked, already crossing his arms and looking uncomfortable.

"Honestly? Wind her up and set her off after whoever's highest on the public's love-affair list. Right now, out of  _your_ team that looks like Hawkeye," Logan said.

"And if it's our team, they'd set her against Logan so they could prove the dangerous mutants angle. We'd like to bring her to the school," Scott said, cutting in. "Like I said before: we have the means to hold her, and we have Logan if she tries to get out."

"Didn't she break out last time she was there?" Steve asked, glancing over to where Clint was helping Jan get Teddy something to eat - and to distract the boy from the discussion at hand.

"She did, but the cell we've got waiting for her won't give her the chance to use the same tricks. It's a lot more aggressive and if she tries … it'll hit her back instead of try to contain her," Scott said. He tipped his head toward Logan. "Wolverine couldn't get out of it."

"I helped with the deterrents," Logan clarified. "She won't get out."

Steve thought it over for a long moment, then turned to Natasha in silent question. "They're not wrong," Natasha confirmed. "SHIELD would absolutely use her to turn the tide of this war - not only in PR, but in assassinations. It will only get worse if they get a hold of her."

Steve let out a breath as he considered the angles. News reports were coming in already about more rogue sentinels wreaking havoc in some of the most populated cities in the US. Non-mutants were being targeted, just like at the rally - but on a much larger scale.

"And," Scott said. "If you find that the Tower isn't a good HQ anymore, the school's sublevels would be more than secure for you."

* * *

When the transport got to the docking point in Avalon, Erik gave Pietro a raised eyebrow look, and as soon as he'd gotten out of the way, Pietro picked K up and zipped her down to her room. "Wait. I'll be back with Lorna. We'll fix this, I swear."

K simply stared at him for an instant before he zipped off only to return a few moments later with Lorna in tow. The green haired young woman looked wide-eyed even before she saw the damage - and as soon as she saw how extensive it was, she covered her mouth with one hand and met K's gaze to quietly apologize on her father's behalf.

"I'll keep her from stabbing you," Pietro said as he made his way over to get a solid grip on K - which … to his surprise, she gently coached him on how to get her into a tighter hold.

"I can't … I don't know that I won't try, even knowing …"

"I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to put that claw through his eye," Pietro said. "Lord knows I want to more often than not."

But K couldn't concentrate enough to relax, and Pietro by himself wasn't enough. So of course, he and Lorna were more than pleased when Vrykolakas seemed to appear at just the right time. He narrowed his eyes at what he was seeing, and as he strode in, he waved his hand, freezing K into place. When he got within arm's reach, he put both hands on either side of her face and concentrated hard to simply knock her out, leaving Lorna to straighten her claw in peace.

It was still a disturbing enough sound that when she bent it back to the right angle, Lorna flinched before she very gently looked it over. "How do we make sure it's okay now?" she asked softly in a voice so quiet that they almost strained to hear her.

"Back away," Vrykolakas said, and a moment later, he'd woken her up.

K was awake with a start, gasping in a breath of air before she skittered back - and popped all the claws on both hands.

"Are they okay now?" Lorna asked from behind Pietro, who obviously was ready to grab her and run out if need be.

K blinked a few times, and as it came back to her what had happened, her hands started to shake again and she looked down at them. She let out an uneasy breath, and with no other way to know, she retracted them. When all went back with no trouble, she let her shoulders drop then popped and retracted several times. When she was finally done, she put them away and gave Lorna a tired sort of smile. " _Thank you_ for helping me," she said genuinely. "You too, Pietro."

"Don't mention it," he said. "Ever."

As Lorna opened her mouth to say something to K, Pietro zipped her away, leaving her alone with Vrykolakas. He didn't say a word at first, instead closing the distance to stand at the foot of her bed, watching her.

Of course, K didn't have anywhere to go, so in short order she simply slipped down to sit cross-legged at the head of her bed facing him. "And you still think you're doing well enough here?" he said, not breaking her eye contact even to blink.

"What do you want me to say?" K asked, shrugging her shoulders up before she wrapped her arms around her knees.

" _You_  don't have to say anything. Today's actions from Magneto speak for themselves. If you didn't know that you were at the  _least_ his prisoner, you most certainly do now," he said. He held up one hand, disappeared, then reappeared a few moments later with a bottle of red wine and two glasses. She opened her mouth to speak, only for him to shush her as he poured them both a measure of wine and handed her the glass then took a seat on the foot of her bed. "Take your time, even for as much torment as you've seen in your years, I know that his betrayal was somehow unexpected at the least."

She let the wine breathe in the glass, her bottom lip lightly held by her canines as she took in the scents. "What do you smell in that, my dear?" Vrykolakas asked as he raised his own glass to his nose and slowly inhaled.

"I thought …"

"Business later," he said in a relaxed and easy tone, almost brushing the idea off. "Pinot noir now. I'd like to know what this particular vintage tastes like to  _you_."

She frowned slightly but when she saw he was waiting for her, she shook her head. She hadn't even gotten it near her nose, but she wasn't entirely comfortable with whatever game this was. "It's bold," she said, the glass still in her hand near her knee. "It smells almost … jammy. Blueberry, black cherry … oak …cumin."

"Yes, I can smell that much myself. Go deeper; tell me more."

She tipped her head to the side and looked at the glass, still not raising it. "This was a cooler weather pinot," she said. "From a dry year. The spices are cumin, tea leaf and dry tobacco aged in a sessile oak barrel from Tronçais." She finally lifted the glass to her nose, mostly to confirm her thoughts before she very delicately tasted it - and tipped her head. " _Silky_. Violets, red cherry, tannins and mushrooms." She paused and tasted again. "Wet forest floor - moss and fern. Earthy. Big and bold.  _Very_ elegant. No residual sugar." K tipped up her glass and took a deeper drink. "It would be good with duck."

Vrykolakas smiled at that. "Is that a request?"

K shook her head. "No. Just an observation. Is that what you wanted to know?"

He smiled and leaned toward her. "And all of your senses are that acute?"

She took her time swallowing the sip she had in her mouth before she nodded.

"Yet that fool wastes your talents so callously and treats you like a base animal." He took a drink and let out a long breath. "You're a treasure, my dear. And you are unhappy here to say the least."

K leaned back and unfolded her legs before she shifted her posture until she was lying on her side, reclined. "Yeah, but I'm not special in that way. I don't think anyone really wants to be here." She took another drink and watched him, sure he was keeping a lot closer eye on her than he looked. "Besides, I can't leave." When he gave her a more interested look, she obliged without further prompting. "I know too much of his plans and strategies. I know what he wants to do, and how he plans to accomplish it. If I were to leave, he'd just reach out and find the metal." She gestured to herself, her hand sweeping from her chest down, resting on her hip before she realized that  _somehow_ the wine was getting to her head. And she wasn't more than a glass into it.

She frowned to herself just as Vrykolakas began to fill her glass again and moved a bit closer to where she was stretched out. "And what if I can promise that he won't find you?" he asked low.

"What did you do to me?" she asked, ignoring the beginning of his proposition.

He smirked crookedly. "I have my means."

"So you want to get me drunk," K said, though she only paused a moment before she tipped the glass back, took a long drink then laid her head down on her arm.

"As charming as that would be, my intention was to get you to relax after Magneto showed you exactly how much he thinks of you." He paused then poured her glass full again. "Of course … intoxication could be a welcome distraction as well."

"That's a lovely way to say you want my defenses down so you can get into my pants."

"Half of that is true." He smiled wickedly. "Perhaps a bit more than that I suppose. I'd like you to reconsider my offer from before," he told her in a quiet rumble that she wasn't entirely sure was out loud or in her head. Though the second half she knew was in her head.  _I can kill him. Or wipe all of his memories of you from his mind. Remove his threat and take you to the villa on my island where you would want for nothing while you stayed. Days … weeks … it would be a worthwhile break for you after running and fighting for so long._

She was watching him but shook her head, then picked up the wine glass. "That deal would cut down on my drinking terribly," she said, taking another drink.

His eyes narrowed for a moment, but he kept his temper in check as he continued to try and charm her. "Yes, but that cretin could never again threaten you, nor should he be allowed to speak in such a vile manner to one with your charms. And again … our nights that would be more than perfunctory ….."

She smirked and let out a little noise after she took another sip. A moment later, she'd set the wine glass on the floor then rolled onto her back to scrub her hands over her face and shake her head. "That won't work."

"Of course it will," Vrykolakas said, sounding perfectly insulted.

"No, it won't," K countered, uncovering her face and turning toward him, though it was obvious that the alcohol had loosened her up by the way she was moving. "But you know … I'm not even going to argue with you: the offer is a good start."

He perked up at that, honestly not having expected her to consider it yet by the way she'd been consistently shooting him down. "Then by all means, my darling girl - make me a counter offer."

K took a long moment and weighed it out. "I'll give you what you want," she said in an almost smoky tone that had Vrykolakas paying much closer attention and almost holding his breath. "But you need to take away Erik's ability to manipulate adamantium."

Vrykolakas grinned. "An easy enough endeavor," he said as he leaned forward and rested his hand on her waist. "To strip him of his powers -"

"No," she said, shaking her head lightly before she covered his hand with hers. "Not all of his powers. Only his ability to manipulate and detect  _adamantium_. I don't want to take anything else from him."

He scoffed. "That's ridiculous. It would be simple to take away his gifts. I could do it right now."

"My good  _sir_ ," K said, her eyes flashing as she kept a solid hold of his hand. "I have many reasons to want to keep his powers in tact. I won't even lie and say that one of the big reasons wouldn't be to see the look on his face when he couldn't stop me from walking up to him and slitting his throat." She let her tone soften.

But that had Vrykolakas grinning again. "I do so like the way you think. Maximum fear before he pays for his sins."

"There are other reasons, of course," she said.

"Yes, I'd assumed the children here came into play," he agreed. "As I've said before - you're perfectly suited to give me strong and clever progeny."

Her panic returned on hearing his phrasing, but he seemed to breeze past it. "It would be tricky, of course," Vrykolakas mused. "It's not a pure metal is it … an alloy born of vibranium and … some secret formula." He shook his head as he thought it over. "A challenge fit for the prize, I think."

"Do that for me, and we have a deal," K said. "But, I'll need to know your side of the deal is done first."

"No faith in me?" he teased as he leaned a bit closer. "How do I not have your trust?"

She matched his motion, stopping when her lips were almost brushing his ear. "I know you're powerful. I know you can wield magic and that you have many convinced you're a mutant. But you're not a mutant. What troubles me is that I don't know what you are … and of course, you've still neglected to give me your name." She pulled back to meet his smoldering gaze. "I would need that before we were to climb into bed. Call me old fashioned like that."

"I wonder if you're clever enough to figure it out yourself," he said.

"If I am?"

"Then I can promise that our time together will be that much more enjoyable," he said. "As I said, you'll find me to be an agreeable master, my dear."

"Right after you strip him of the means to touch my metal," she agreed.

"Then this game will be the finest I've played in a lifetime," he said, grinning wider.


	15. Trying To Play Nice

K was sleeping soundly after a night of drinking with Vrykolakas doing his level best to lay on the charm. It had taken her a long time to get him to let her sleep  _alone_ , only to be awakened by soft giggles as her bed moved slightly. She was on her stomach, hugging her pillow and half curled up when the little person that had climbed in behind her stumbled and bumped into her shoulder. She bit the inside of her lip, trying to keep from laughing at how sneaky they were trying to be, though the second twin was clearly doing a better job …

Until he started shooshing his brother. K bit down harder on the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling as little hands rested on her arm. She knew they were leaning in to try and wake her up. For one, the one on the bed was leaning on her as his brother got closer to whisper her name. "K," Billy said quietly. "You 'wake?"

She answered him with a very sudden, and very low growl that had Tommy tumbling backward - and almost falling off the bed with a half shouted 'Augh!'. Billy  _had_ fallen over backward, right onto his little backside, though when she smiled into her pillow, he knew she was joking. "You scareded me!" he accused even as he climbed up to snuggle up to her.

"You woke me up," she said, wrapping her arm around him to pull him closer and pepper the side of his head with kisses as he snuggled in and giggled more. A moment later, Tommy dropped down on her hard in as much of a dogpile as he was able, wrapping his arms around her neck.

"Time to get up!" he said, sure he was safe since Billy was getting cuddled. Until of course, K let go of Billy and simply started to rise. Tommy laughed delightedly and held on tight, choking her until she put her hand over his wrists and he planted his feet at her hips to stand up better. "Ride! Ride! Inna ride!"

She reached behind her to support him better, then held out her free hand to let Billy climb on too - holding him one armed at her hip for the moment as they started off - going back to Wanda's suite to make sure the boys were fed. "Did you two have breakfast yet?" K asked.

"Noooooooooo," the two of them sang back in a tiny two-boy chorus.

"Can we have pancakes?" Billy asked.

"With choc-lit chips?" Tommy added over her shoulder.

"Sure," K replied. "Do your parents know you came to me first?"

The two boys shared a look and Billy quietly shook his head. "They were sleep'nin too."

She pulled him a little closer and kissed his cheek. "That's okay. I don't mind."

When they got to Wanda and Vision's apartment-like suite, it was clear the couple was still out, so K simply set the boys down and quietly started working up breakfast for the twins. The boys of course had to help, and considering how things went the last time she let them help - she was sure to let Tommy pour the milk and chocolate chips in while Billy got to stir. Tommy with a whisk was a mess waiting to happen. But even as Billy did his 'job' carefully, Tommy was sure to hang over his shoulder. "You so  _slooooow_."

"Nuh-uh," Billy countered, sticking his tongue out before he handed over the bowl and both boys leaned on the counter watching as she cooked them their breakfasts.

"Well this is pleasant," Wanda said when she stepped out just in time to see K stop Tommy from dumping most of the sryup in the full bottle over his pancakes.

"They came to get me," K told her as she continued cooking. "They didn't want to wake you."

Wanda made her way over to give both boys a kiss on the temple, and both of them smiled and leaned into her when she did so, dancing a little more in their seats after getting their 'good morning' from their mother. The little group had their breakfast together, and when the little ones were done, Vision was the one to round them up to get them cleaned up and ready for the day. Which is of course, what Wanda had asked him to do.

"I'm concerned about Father's newest recruit," Wanda said in a hushed tone. "I don't think he's being entirely truthful to us."

"He absolutely isn't," K agreed.

"He's taken a keen interest in you," Wanda said carefully, unsure of where K stood on the subject herself. "And he … he is a very powerful magic user." She paused then amended her statement. "He hasn't really shown more than a few paltry tricks, but … I sense something much more … substantial below the surface. I'm afraid his image may be much closer to what he truly is than we've been led to believe."

K nodded at that. "I think so too," she agreed. "But I also don't want to piss him off if he's capable of what I  _think_ he's capable of."

Wanda nodded her head in agreement. "I don't want him around the boys."

"Of course not," K said, frowning.

"Just … tell me if he offers to do magic for you - or if he tries to get … well.  _Anything_ from you."

"Like what?" K asked, already wondering how much Wanda might know.

"Well … he looks like a demon," she said, starting to list off a few issues. "He disappears in a cloud of brimstone, and he's hiding how powerful he is. His name  _isn't really_ Vrykolakas, is it?"

K shook her head at that. "No, that's a fake name," she agreed. "Still a clue. It's Greek for vampire - or close enough to vampire."

"He's  _not_ a vampire."

"I know," she said, meeting Wanda's frown.

"All the same," Wanda said quietly, weighing it out. "If he tries to get your blood …"

"Now you're just being ridiculous."

Wanda looked up at her and shook her head. "Not entirely. I don't think he wants to  _drink_ your blood … but there are very old and very dangerous paths of magic that involve blood."

"Gotcha," K said, nodding. "All the same, I pissed your dad off again. I doubt I'm going anywhere for a while."

"You doubt the power of public opinion," Wanda said, once again smirking with a troublemaking look. "Your little one-way smack down with Sabretooth made the air. And public opinon on that is soaring. More than a few women have been screaming 'do it again'." She bit her lip and watched K for a moment. "What did you do with his hand, anyhow?"

"Tossed it in the incinerator," K said easily as she picked up her mug. "He can grow a new one."

Wanda took just a moment to let it sink in before she started to laugh. "Well, that's actually one thing my father was happy to see. Sabretooth has been too aggressive with women for far too long, even after he's been told to stop. It's good that you were the one to give him a little comeuppance." She reached over to rest her hand on K's wrist. "I'm just sorry you don't have a good way to get away from my father. You don't belong here with his followers."

At that K let out a little laugh. "Yeah, well … whatcha gonna do?" She shrugged her shoulders up, only to let them drop with a sigh. "I can't go without him coming after me. Can't kill him without killing everyone here …"

"That's precisely why Pietro hasn't done it, too," Wanda said, smiling gently. "Maybe it'll be better when Genosha is rebuilt."

K raised her eyebrows, but didn't argue the point at all, instead electing to simply enjoy her coffee and clean up with Wanda. Even if she wasn't going to Earth any time soon, she still had intel to sift through and things to dig up about their adversaries. Which was easier done when Erik didn't expect her to go to rallies with him. It also made it easier for her to isolate things she didn't think Erik needed … like … the updated version of Captain America's now-mixed daily routine and new home address.

* * *

Both the X-Men and the Avengers were staking out any incident where Magneto or his followers were gathered - or suspected of showing up. It was a matter of how much they wanted to put an end to what they were sure was the source of intel leaks. But to their irritation, K simply wasn't showing up. To any of them.

More rogue sentinels were trickling through the cracks, and they were being reversed even with the new security on them in place - to the point that Steve was finally recommending to SHIELD that they needed to put an end to the sentinel program.  _Right now._ He'd been asking nicely - and gonig through all the right channels before but now? Now it was a demand. Their programs weren't safe and Magneto's people were easily reversing the targets to non-mutants, which had opened up an entirely new ball of trouble when several clearly physically mutated individuals … were not in fact mutants. Those people were being persecuted on both sides. Humans were afraid of them and mutants didn't  _want_ them.

So their focus was on far out destinations the day that K did manage to slip away from Avalon. She had already decided she was going to screw up Erik's attack on the Avengers. No two ways about it, it had to be done. Especially since he was intent on targeting them, and she had made it plain - as did Wanda and Pietro - that there was no reason to kill the Avengers.

Of course, the uniform wasn't going to help her, and even the usual sun dress was going to bite her since that's what she'd worn when she talked to Captain America the last time … but … there was a very easy, and extremely readily available option.

Which was how she found herself in cut off shorts and an 'I love Hawkeye' tee shirt, just like half or better of the crowd that was getting a tour of Avengers tower. She had her hair down loose, and she was wearing a baseball hat on top of a pair of dark glasses - but that too, wasn't unusual.

The security for the tour was amazingly lax, K thought. Especially when she bounced away from the tour group toward the public bathrooms. From there, she tossed the hat and climbed up into the ductwork to start working her way up to the higher levels. The view was great where the tour was looking out over Manhattan, but … the Avengers themselves and their headquarters was up at the top.

It took a few hours, but it was an exhilarating type of climb - avoiding traps and triggers and alarms … tight quarters. But she was managing all the same. When she finally got through the level where Stark's labs were - not that she could blame him for the high security from what she saw there - things lightened up a bit as far as alarms went. There were still a few pressure plates and laser triggers, but for the most part, she was in the clear.

So she parked it - just to take a little break and try to hear where it was that Tony Stark might be, hoping that he wasn't across the country. As she waited, she heard several Avengers going through - all of them on the way out, but she had a loose idea on where Tony was. When she was sure it was clear, she started heading his direction, pausing to check her progress as she went, and then simply shaking her head when she realized that he was in his room, trying to rest and heal. Though not without complaining about it.

She waited until he'd settled in and his breathing evened out, then she slipped out of the ductwork and made her way over to close and lock the door. It wouldn't give her much time, but it was better than nothing.

Tony was sleeping - somewhat fitfully - as K silently crossed the room to have a seat next to him. But when it seemed there was no chance he was going to wake up on his own, she let her curiosity get the better of her as she shifted closer to him on the bed - and then she carefully moved the covers to check his injuries. He didn't even move until she had moved his shirt back into place.

From the placement, she was pretty sure he'd gotten a lacerated spleen - which had they not acted quickly enough, he absolutely could have bled out. She let out a heavy sigh and turned toward the door. She didn't have time to wait for him to wake up on his own. She stayed where she was but rested her hand on his arm to give him a little shake. "Mr. Stark," she said gently, which got a little twitch at the corner of his mouth, but nothing else. "I need you to wake up for me."

Tony was obviously sleepy but he started to stir all the same, and when he opened his eyes, it took him a moment to register who he was seeing. He squinted at her for a moment, then almost jerked backward.

"Take it easy," K said, holding both hands up. "I just came to warn you about the sentinels, then I'll be out of your hair."

"You can't just …  _show up_ in my  _bedroom_ ," Tony hissed out. "What? You here to finish the job your little demon friend started?"

"Tony-"

"No! I don't want to hear it, lady. I should call for-"

She had darted forward and kissed him back into the pillows until he dropped the tense stance and participated, which was as calming a thing as she could think of considering who she was dealing with. "Magneto plans to send  _all_ of his sentinels here to take out the Avengers. Please,  _leave_."

"Whose side are you  _on_?"

"I'm trying to keep you alive," K said, though she hadn't moved back more than a few inches from him.

"And I appreciate that," Tony said. "But I am honestly half scared to touch you since I like my hands where they are? Attached to my arms."

"You're nothing like Victor Creed, and in case you missed it, I've been the aggressor here," she pointed out. "But that's not why I'm here."

"You sure?" Tony couldn't help but tease. It was too good an opening  _not_ to take, and she did show up in his room, after all.

She tipped her head as she lifted one shoulder with almost a pout. "You'll pop your stitches. I'll feel bad about it."

"Kiss it better?"

"I'll kiss the scar. But  _only_ if you get your friends and get out of the tower. Go somewhere safe, but do it fast. If you watch their flight patterns, you can see them starting to converge some time in the next 24 hours."

"I shouldn't let you leave all the same," Tony said. "You killed an Avenger in broad daylight. Sure, he was an ass, but he was still an Avenger."

"Mr. Stark, you didn't need a wife beater representing your brand and dragging you down," K said. "I'm only sorry that my temper got the better of me. I should have stopped much sooner."

He let out a breath at that. He knew she wasn't lying - he could see in the video almost exactly when she'd lost it. It was a much milder cue than Logan gave when he lost control, but it was there all the same. "I'm a little insulted with the content on that t-shirt," Tony said as K leaned back to sit on her heels.

"I'd take it off, but it'll be hard to get out of the building," she said, then paused to clarify. "Easy to spot."

"You shouldn't be leaving the building at all," Tony said, wincing as he sat up, but that got K to put a hand on both of his shoulders and gently push him back flat.

"You're in no shape to capture me, though when you heal up, I promise I won't cut anything off or stab you," K teased with a little smirk. "But you'll have to get out of here first, so you can live  _long enough_  to catch me."

He let his hands rest on either side of her ribcage. "I think I caught you," he said. "And you already said you don't want to pop my stitches …"

She couldn't help but smirk crookedly at him. "So what am I supposed to do with you in bed if I can't pop your stitches? I didn't take you as the snuggling type."

"I'm very loveable." Tony said with a crooked grin.

She leaned forward and stole a kiss. "Next time, lover boy. Heal up so I don't hurt you." With that, she got up and made her way over to the door, with Tony watching her every step of the way.

"They're going to catch you, you know," he said.

"Eventually, yeah," she agreed before she unlocked the door and slipped into the hall. She made a quick move to go down a few doors before she slipped into another room and then climbed into the air ducts again, and not a moment too soon.

She was barely into it and down the trunkline before the alarms went off. Tony had to have hit some kind of panic button, which … she was surprised he hadn't done sooner. And it also meant she had to get moving. It would just be a matter of time before they figured out where she was - there were only so many options on where she could have gone, after all. "Oh, Tony," she sighed out in a breath. "I don't even blame you for trying."

K had to find a spot - outside of the duct work, and outside of the usual passageways to simply wait as the security response was  _high_ and heavy. She'd managed to find a spot between occupied floors, and couldn't help but appreciate the level of response she was getting from them. She went to an inner office there - one where the cameras across the street couldn't catch her moving around, but she was honestly starting to wonder how she was going to get out. The comm she'd picked up off of a security guard was immensely helpful in knowing what was happening, though she swore to herself when the order was put out for them to go floor to floor with separate patrols starting from the top floors and the bottom floors.

Sooner or later, they were going to corner her. And by the sound of the comms - it was sooner. She bit her lip and considered crashing through a window, but that would have made the news - and tipped Erik off that she'd warned them. She was low on options, but … she thought about it for a moment. If she was captured, what's the worst that could happen?

She'd likely be handed over to SHIELD. Unless of course, the Avengers had their own containment. That could be interesting.

Either way, if she wasn't back in a reasonable time - or if someone in the tower leaked it to the press, Erik would know where she was with a simple search for the metal. And that would be bad for anyone that was around her when he got there.

She swore under her breath and decided to go for broke and try to wait them out in the ducts. But she no sooner had gotten in and partway down the trunk line when all the fans shut off and a metallic-sweet scent started to fill her senses. It wasn't until she couldn't quite coordinate her limbs that she even saw the lightly violet color to the air around her. "Damnit, Tony," she breathed out - though her breaths were coming in quick with the gas taking place of the oxygen around her. She pushed herself forward to the nearest vent only to find that a metal plate had dropped down outside of it, sealing the system.

She couldn't focus enough to pop her claws and cut her way out, and as the gas concentrated, K relaxed further until she simply closed her eyes.


	16. You Must Remember This ...

"That's it, just … move slow," Tony directed. "She's doped up enough she shouldn't be able to move without help. That stuff cuts off your coordination."

"Shouldn't isn't really all that reassuring, Stark," Clint said as he pulled K out of the ductwork. "Aww, come on. Really? All the options and she had to pick a Hawkeye tee?"

"That was definitely the least attractive part of that disguise," Tony agreed, getting a dry look from Clint.

"Why would she even  _think_ about coming in here?" Steve asked, moving to help Clint pull her out without dropping her. LIttle as she was, she still weighed an easy eighty pounds or better more than she should have and the angle to move her was awkward. She was completely limp and barely breathing - a side effect of the gas.

"She was bringing me a warning about Magneto," Tony admitted.

"When the hell did she even get to you to talk to you?" Clint asked, thought about it then shook his head. "You know what? No. I don't want to know. Forget it. You're still in your  _pajamas_ , I can guess."

"Nothing happened," Tony said, sounding irritated.

"Lipstick," Steve said without looking his way. Tony paused, turned away from them and wiped his mouth, but there wasn't a bit of color in his hand, and when he turned back to Steve, both Steve and Clint were smirking at him. "You don't have any on you, but that was as good as a confession."

Tony gave him a dry look before he rolled his eyes and made his way over to where Steve and Clint had laid K down in the hall. He knelt down next to her to slip the gloves that Scott had given them to keep her from using her claws before they even got around to handcuffs. "She said Magneto is sending all the sentinels here for us."

"You believe it?" Clint asked as he shifted her face down and pulled one arm behind her back.

"She hasn't lied to me yet," Tony said. "She hasn't lied to Cap either."

"I'll tell Scott to get ready for us," Steve said. "He'll want to make sure that cell is ready to go." He closed the cuffs around K's wrists and Clint tied up her ankles while Steve got to his feet. "Think you can keep your lips off of her for ten minutes?"

"You're hilarious," Tony said, though he was wincing as he slid down the wall to sit on the ground near her to wait for her to wake up - and for the X-Men to show up.

It didn't take K too long to start to stir, but when she did - it wasn't nearly as fast as Tony had expected. "Hey, gorgeous, your turn to wake up," Tony said quietly when she'd started to move. Her head was rolling slowly from side to side, and on hearing his voice, she turned toward him and slowly blinked awake. "Don't panic," he advised. "That stuff is slow to wear off - even in healers."

"Run," she said in a croaky voice as she shook her head at him.

"I can't do that, sweetheart," Tony replied. "See …  _we_ caught  _you_. You can't use your claws and you're still doped up. There's no reason for me to run."

K shook her head wearing a deep frown. "Go - you can't be here."

Tony let out a sigh, sure she was still showing the effects of the gas. "We're waiting for the X-Men to come pick you up, I'm not going anywhere."

But that had her blinking out of it harder. "What?" K said in an almost panicked tone as she fully turned his way. "Why?" Her breathing was picking up and she was trying to clear it out faster almost gulping the fresh air as Tony tried to get her to relax.

"Because Cyclops and Wolverine clued us in on why you can't go to SHIELD," Tony admitted, but that only got him a look of pure horror as she focused on him.

"No - you can't ... " she was shaking her head, almost unconsciously and on the edge of hyperventilating.

"They won't hurt you," Tony insisted, resting one hand on her arm. "Believe me, they're alright."

"No! They have kids there," she said. "Lots of kids …" she shifted so she was a little closer to him.

"Yeah, I know," he said, frowning at her. "We have that last one you brought by here … what's that got to do with-"

" _Please get him and get out_ ," she said wide-eyed. "Give me to SHIELD if you have to but don't … I can't go to the X-Men. Not … not when they have those kids. Please, Tony."

"Why are you so …" Tony stopped mid sentence, the image of Erik yanking her back to him vividly coming back to him. "He'll use you for a homing device." K nodded at that, the panic clear. "And you were saying something about sentinels-"

"He's sending them here to  _murder your team_ ," she said. "They're not advanced enough to code to DNA-"

"But the fact you're even bringing it up is … he's working on it."

K nodded and he swore under his breath. "He's hoping he hits you hard enough that he doesn't have to get there.

"How long before they get here?" Tony asked, already going for his comm.

"I left a drive on your workbench," she admitted. "Because I was sure you wouldn't believe me - the drive has all the IP's for them so you can track more accurately."

"Is that  _all_ that's on the drive?" Tony asked, alarmed that she'd gotten in that far but not set it off.

"There is a lot of sentinel intel on there," she admitted. "But I have it set up that it will  _not_ open up that intel if you're here. Because you need to get out to live and that's the kind of thing that you'd hole up and lock yourself in your lab for a week over."

"You really think it'd take me a week?"

"Might as well be a lifetime if you don't evacuate," K shot back, already struggling to get loose.

Tony let out a breath and tried to get her to relax. "Hey. You don't need to do this, you're not going anywhere. The kids will be safe even if Erik is looking for you."

But that had her working harder to get her hands loose. "No they  _won't,_ " she argued. She crunched herself up into a ball as Tony watched - but by the time she'd gotten her hands underneath her to move them in front of her, he couldn't  _stop her._

He moved forward and took a hold of her hands, trying to at least get her to stop untying her ankles. "You  _can't get out of this_ ," Tony said, but that only had her panicking a bit more. He shook his head as he watched her. "I don't get it. You were fine when you woke up and now?"

" What is it you don't get?" K asked, though she didn't pull her hands back. "Erik wants you all dead. All of you. And if it's the X-Men that have me, he'd turn on them, too."

"But you were fine going up to SHIELD," Tony said, frowning deeper. "That's pretty messed up."

She let out her breath all at once. "I could have used the lift up to the helicarrier, if I'm being perfectly honest."

"So … what? You were going to try and break out there and then what? Root through Fury's office?"

"Wouldn't be the first time," she said under her breath, but that got Tony to stop for just a moment and let out an almost breathless laugh.

"You know, you make it hard not to root for you sometimes," he said with a disbelieving look even as K slipped her hands down to untie the knot at her ankles. "But as much as I can appreciate you screwing with Magneto and even Fury … Honey, you can't  _do_ things the way you've been doin' 'em."

"Do you want me to stop warning you when you're about to be murdered?" K asked, but Tony quickly shook his head.

"No, that I like. I even like your delivery method this time a lot better," he said, smirking. "Could use a little improvement ... "

"I'll keep that in mind," she replied as she got to her feet, the rope that had been around her ankles on the ground.

Tony frowned at her as she headed toward the stairs. "K, honey - don't … you can't go!" He rushed over and held the door closed, and though she didn't hurt him she gave him a pleading sort of look as she tried to jockey him  _gently_ out of the way.

"Mr. Stark, I don't have time for this," K said, frustrated that her hands were still in cuffs. "Do you have the key?"

"If I did, I'd make you search me for it," Tony said, which got her to pause and meet his gaze for a moment before she smiled crookedly and gave him a quick once over.

"You don't have any pockets," K observed.

"Nope," he said, still smirking. "But that just leaves the fun spots."

"You don't have the key."

"It's best to be thorough," Tony said, unable to stop the smile.

K smirked wider at that, but before she could even get out a snappy retort, Steve turned the corner and shouted for her to get on the ground. She quickly stepped away from Tony, and when he didn't make a move to restrain her, she waited just a moment and then rushed Steve. She was moving a lot faster than she had been during their fist fight, and she wasn't shy at all about slipping around him as he swung - deftly checking his pockets for the key to the handcuffs. She got her hand into his front pocket, and Steve startled for more than one reason as he grabbed her hand to stop her from getting the key out.

"You can't …  _stop that,_ " Steve half-shouted, curling over until she pressed into him against his chest - where she could at least try to stop one of his hands from stopping her. It was a struggle, and Steve was quick to wrap his arms around her to try and bear hug her into place. She wasn't shy of playing dirty either once she got the key in her hand. Instead of pulling away from him, she shifted so that she was working on the cuffs just below his belt, which had him trying to find a way to block her.

She got one hand free from the cuffs, but Steve grabbed the loose cuff and snapped it around his own wrist to stop her from undoing the other hand. It also kept her from flat out running off, too.

"Give it up," Steve said, pulling her toward him. It was a hard enough jerk that she nearly lost her footing, but as Steve reached for her free arm, she finally started actually fighting back. His strike was met by redirection and a block as she swept his legs out from under him. Of course, he took her to the ground with him and tried to pin her, but before he could get all the way over her, she pulled her knee up fast catching him between the legs. With her free hand she took a hold of his cuffed hand and turned underneath him.

"I'm really sorry about this," K said. "But I can't do this to myself. It's just not possible." She had positioned her hand around the cuff on his wrist and he knew right away what she was going to try, so in an instant, he grabbed her free hand and covered it with his - stopping her from breaking his wrist. She threw her head back and cracked him in the face. The scent of blood in the air tipped her off that she'd at least split his lip - the lack of a crunch meant she didn't break his nose, but he was stunned for just long enough for her to start working on the cuffs. He wouldn't let her get the right angle to break his wrist, no matter how hard she tried, and as he called for Hawkeye to come and assist, K started feverishly twisting her cuffed wrist.

Tony didn't have a thing he could do to help, but he blinked in disbelief when she broke into a broad smile and angled her wrist, levering the chain against the little nub on the cuffs that held them together. There was a hollow sounding  _crack_  and before either of the men in the hall knew what was happening for sure, K's cuffed hand flew up - away from Steve's to crack him in the face.

The chain was broken. She still couldn't use her claws -but for the way she was going after Steve, they clearly weren't necessary.

A low growl split the air as she started fighting with him in earnest - both of them bringing a good fight and pushing to make it stick.

There was a twang as Clint let loose an arrow, and this time, K turned out of its path and caught it by the shaft before it could pass her. She snapped the arrow in half - growling deeper when she saw it was a shocker-tipped arrow.

He fired off two more arrows in quick succession, and she dodged the first. The second hit her just below her ribs on her right side, and K responded by grabbing a hold of it and pulling it out. She whipped it toward him - muffing his next shot before she leaned forward, kissed Tony hard and pulled him out of her way. The move was sneaky in that Clint was reluctant to shoot with Tony in the way, and Tony didn't react fast enough to stop her before she got into the stairwell and jumped over the railing, only to grab a rail when she got close to it.

When she looked up, she saw she'd fallen almost twenty stories straight down - and it was just a matter of fighting through the armed guards on her way  _out._

She rushed not for the main entrance, but the parking complex - even though the security would be more tight, the cameras there were closed circuit -which meant that the news wouldn't be able to leak it. A handful of guards ended up with a metal gloved fist in their faces, or a kick in the gut as she left, but the men on patrol simply weren't prepared to fight her.

* * *

By the time that Steve and Clint got down to the parking complex, K was predictably long gone. What was more frustrating was that somehow, even with metal gloves on, the woman found a way to blend into the crowd, and Clint swore outright when they found the clothes she'd been wearing in an alley three blocks from the tower.

"Guys, I hate to say it," Tony said over the comms to Steve and Clint, "but she wasn't lying. We have incoming. More than we can defend against without severe civilian casualties."

"I'm not running, Tony," Steve said, frowning deeper and unconsciously straightening up.

"Yeah, you might want to re-think that, Cap. I've got over fifty sentinels headed this way from around the country," Tony said. "Once again, she didn't lie. She was warning us. We don't have a ton of time - and we gotta get out of here. Now."

"The X-Men are on their way, we need to re-capture her!" Steve argued, running down the alley, though he had no idea where to go.

"Cap!" Tony called out. "We need to go!"

"Where?" Clint asked. "Not like all your properties aren't public knowledge."

The three of them were quiet for a moment as they thought it over. "We take up Cyclops on his offer," Steve said finally. With a sigh, he changed direction to head back toward the tower. "Tony -"

"Already got my stuff backed up," Tony said. "I set a course for my non-metal suit. I'm on my way down now with Jarvis and the kid."

By the time the four of them had met up, the three Avengers had reached out to the rest of their members - warning them to find a place to lay low. The building, of course, was evacuated quietly, and by the time the sentinels showed up - Avengers tower was an empty husk. Which was how it stayed as the sentinels toppled it.

All of which Steve, Tony, and Clint watched on a screen with the X-Men several hours from the tower itself.

"She took down the tower," Remy said as they watched the coverage.

"No, Magneto did," Steve clarified. "She warned us."

"You said you had her down," Logan stated, his eyes narrowed as he watched Steve.

"Yeah, we did," Steve replied. "And she got loose."

"How?" Scott asked, and just like that all eyes were on Tony.

"She got her hands in front of herself," Tony said, gesturing with one hand. "And she untied herself while she had me distracted, okay?" Clint let out a dry sounding scoff. "After that she broke the handcuffs and fought Cap back."

"You had the gloves on her right?" Bobby asked. "Because the gloves - they need to be on her."

"Yeah, the gloves were on her," Tony said. "She didn't need the claws to fight her way out."

 _Maybe we need a telepath to stop her_ , Scott projected out to Jean, though he was still mostly thinking to himself.  _Put her to sleep. Or turn her brain off for a moment._

 _Probably why she hates telepaths so much_ , Jean replied.  _You know Charles and I will do whatever we can to put a stop to this._

 _Yeah, I know,_ Scott answered, unable to stop the little smile as he turned toward her. "We'll get her."

"Yeah - about that," Tony said, pointing a finger at Scott. "When I said she was coming here, she completely lost it. Not … unhappy lost it, I mean kneed Cap in the balls lost it."

The group's focus turned quickly to Steve, who could only let out a sigh and gesture openly. "Not one of the cleaner fights I've been in."

The serious tone of the discussion was interrupted - at least temporarily- as Teddy rubbed his eyes and picked his head off of Clint's shoulder. The Avengers and X-Men in attendance shared a little look and Charles took control of the situation. "I think, ladies and gentlemen, that it's time to reorganize our thoughts while young Teddy here meets the others."

Teddy looked around the room and gasped quietly at the still-costumed heroes around him. Of course, Clint was quick to pick up on the kid's excitement. "You wanna have Wolverine show you around, little man?"

Teddy nodded, unable to contain his smile as Clint set him down - and an instant later, he was all but attached to Logan's hand. Logan glared Clint's way, but he wasn't about to direct his irritation toward a starry-eyed little boy that was apparently in love with superheroes. "Come on, kiddo," Logan said. "The others are probably tearin' up things in the game room."

* * *

When K finally got around to her meeting point to go back to Avalon, Pietro gave her a sideways look. "What's with the metal mittens?"

"I came across a few X-Men," K said in a tone that spoke volumes of how weary she was. She raised her hand that still had the broken cuff with the chain dangling. "They were ready for me."

"Yet, you still got away," he replied, nodding to himself with a satisfied sort of expression. "Good. Father was under the impression that you relied on your claws for such things."

"Then your father was mistaken," K replied stiffly.

"He was," Pietro agreed, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "It makes me wonder what else he was mistaken about when it comes to you."

K turned his way with one eyebrow arched. "I'd need to know what he thinks to dispel those inaccuracies."

Pietro turned toward her, smirking clearly now. "But why would you want to? Let him be wrong."

K paused thoughtfully. "You know, you're not wrong? But I'm also very sure that the way you're talking would be considered treason from anyone else working on Genosha or living in Avalon."

"Good thing I'm not anyone else," Pietro deadpanned.

The rest of the flight up was silent, but when they got to the docking point, Pietro diverted her to an empty room. "Wait here. I'll get Lorna. No reason to let my Father get overly upset at his old friend if we can help it."

K watched him go, frowning slightly at his retreating form as she started to wonder … who else on Avalon was unhappy with Erik's rabid stance.


	17. Stuck Up A Tree

Erik wasn't entirely pleased with  _anything_ really. Not as far as the Avengers and the X-Men and K were concerned. The fact that in his mind, the two teams were targeting one of  _his_ only had him watching them much more closely after she'd come back with those adamantium laced gloves on. Clearly, Charles was starting to see something in the girl. That, or he didn't like that Erik had a tracker as gifted as Wolverine.

Things were hot Stateside, and Erik watched regularly to see how very busy the X-Men were trying to put out those fires. Of course, his own men were going in to recruit too, but he simply couldn't risk Charles getting his hands on  _his_ little feral. Word had gotten out to Excalibur, too, though, and that team had their eyes open for her as well, so to avoid letting K get too cagey by being stuck in Avalon, he did the best thing he could think of … and sent her to Japan on a special mission.

He knew there could be a small risk of Wolverine going there himself on his own private business, but tensions weren't yet that high on the island nation, and last he'd heard, Wolverine was keeping his business to Madripoor. It was close, yes, but he needed an easily recognizable face where the local mutant population could find her. If nothing else to ensure that reports of the little woman would be well covered.

Of course, K hated the idea of it. She didn't speak the language, even if her approval ratings in Japan were high. But it didn't stop the order from going through all the same. She wasn't exactly thrilled either, when on arriving in Japan, she learned the details from Erik on an aspiring contact to show her around. Erik was of course not trusting of this contact, so K was to determine what she could and act accordingly.

The order had been to stay out of uniform - to dress as she chose, so all things considered, K had elected to go the more ladylike route for a change. She'd pulled her hair into a simple updo that paired well with the flowing A-line dress and heels - a requirement for someone of her stature when she wasn't in jeans. It lended a bit of class to Erik's entourage anyhow.

Emma had a tendency to go too risque - always skin tight, low cut, and if not borderline, then wholly inappropriate. The twins preferred to wear their uniforms as status symbols - and to be sure they were recognized, but for someone that preferred to blend in - or stick out in a more stunning way - this was the perfect answer.

Of course, to K's initial relief, the contact on the ground was another well dressed woman. With her dark glasses in place, K stepped out of the transport and made her way toward the dark haired woman that was flanked by armed guards and wearing a broad, welcoming smile.

"Welcome to Japan," the woman said, smoothly extending her hand, though she seemed not to have any accent at all. At least - not a Japanese accent. "I trust your flight back to Earth was smooth?"

K delicately gripped the woman's hand with a nod. "As usual," she replied. Though the dark haired woman with deep emerald painted lips could not see her eyes, K was carefully taking in all the details of the people around her as the two women were escorted to the waiting car.

"It is my hope that Magneto shall be pleased with what myself and my associates in the Serpent Squad have to offer," the woman said in a confident tone.

K gave her a little smirk. "We'll have to wait and see, of course."

"Of course," she agreed. The woman gave K a clear once over that K pretended not to notice. "I'll be honest, I expected a more militant presence … those fighting for mutants usually have a more … obvious wardrobe."

"Yet you don't seem to go by the same standards either," K commented.

"On the contrary," she said, opening up her long overcoat, "As the Viper of Madripoor, I am rarely seen out of a long green evening gown - or a bodysuit if things get messy."

At that, K turned her way with an almost pleasant smile. "And how is it that the Viper of Madripoor found herself showing me around Tokyo?"

"I'm an expert in the far east," Viper replied, almost purring.

K let out a little hum, and turned her attention back to the window, watching the city pass them by. When the car came to a stop in the heart of downtown Tokyo, the two women simply waited for the door to be opened before they stepped out. The city was bustling, though at their appearance, the sidewalk cleared momentarily. Viper's reputation was well known in the East, even if she was simply starting out as far as the west was concerned.

Viper led the way to the tall, glittering skyscraper that held the penthouses that her little organization used for important clients, and K simply held her head high as they made their way to the elevators. But it wasn't until the two women were alone finally before Viper struck, so to speak.

"You are quite popular in this part of the world," she said with a smile as she poured up a glass of wine for each of them. K nodded as Viper made her way over and handed her the glass. "That is why Magneto sent you instead of coming himself, isn't it?"

"He has his reasons, I'm sure," K said, swirling the deeply golden wine in her glass as she set her sunglasses down on the coffee table.

There was silence, but for the trickling of water in the feature in the corner as the two women looked out over the business district of Tokyo. "I must say," Viper said, turning toward K with a grin. "I was rather impressed by your takedown of Captain America."

K frowned, already disliking how this conversation was going. "It was a lucky shot," she said dully.

"Oh, come now," Viper said with a disbelieving chuckle. "You can't expect me to believe that you were truly the downtrodden little target that crossed Captain America? Surely that was a calculated move on your part."

K held her growl back as she tipped her head gently to the side. "I prefer to let the tape speak for itself. It's beyond my control on how anyone chooses to see it."

"A calculated answer for a calculated move," Viper commented.

The next few minutes were spent with Viper peppering K with somewhat non-intrusive questions - on their own. But together, it was clear to K that Viper was fishing. Little questions of Erik's personal life - no, he wasn't attached to anyone. Needling sideways compliments to try and discover the hierarchy of Erik's organization - no, she wasn't officially second in command even if Erik sent her in his stead.

But it wasn't really until K had lifted the glass to her nose that Viper even began to pay attention to what the little feral was up to. "Is this … Tokaji Aszú?" K asked, looking honestly surprised for a moment before she took a deeper sniff. Already the scent of honey and cinnamon was plain … though there was an underlying note of almond that simply should not have been there. "It's been ages since I've tasted a Hungarian wine."

K held Viper's surprised gaze before she took a taste, waiting for the woman's response. "You're observant," Viper said. "And a lover of the finest of wines." She smiled broader. "Louis XIV once said that this was 'the king of wines and the wine of kings.'"

The two women drank at the same time, but as they lowered their glasses, Viper's smile only grew, even as K set the overly sweet wine that tasted of candied tangerines and cloves to the side. She watched K intently for a long moment. "And now, my new friend," Viper said. "You'll tell me all that I want to know if you want to live."

K looked up at her and raised an eyebrow. The woman was impatient, and out of her league. "Why? Because you've poisoned me?"

Viper looked surprised - but only for an instant. "Tell me how to take Magneto down and I'll give you the antidote," Viper purred. "But you might want to think quickly. That is a fast acting poison, even for as little as you had."

K met Viper's gaze, and then just to make her point, she picked the glass up again and took a long drink. "No."

"You would die for him?"

"No."

Viper let out a high pitched laugh. "Yet you drink more poison?"

K finished off her glass then rested her hands primly on her knees. "I'm not in a mood to play these games with you, Miss Sarkissian," K said. "Go ahead and think you've got the upper hand. I don't care. But I'm not going to give some little tramp that's been trying to sleep her way to the top of  _Hydra_ anything to go by."

"Then why did you come here?"

"Because Erik wanted to give you a chance. An opportunity to go against the so called heroes of the world and join him in his fight as an olive branch to mutates, but if you can only see as far as Hydra … then I can't help you."

But Viper … didn't get it. Not yet anyhow. "Don't you see you stubborn little twit? If you don't play ball with me, you will die!"

At that, K turned her way fully. "No, I won't. But you?" The movement was quick, and K's strike was perfect as she sent a claw through Viper's heart and held her gaze as the emerald lady gasped. "Magneto has no desire to do anything alongside Hydra or anyone that backs them."

K retracted her claw and took a hold of both of Viper's wrists - stopping her from making a move toward her darts as she bled out. "You can't do this to me," Viper gasped. "My men …"

"Your men will die as surely as you are dying now if they cross me," K growled out, her grip unrelenting as she watched and waited for Viper's last gasp.

When it was clear she was dead, K stood up and made her way over to the sink, her heels clicking on the marble floors the whole way. She poured out the overly sweet poisoned wine and then started to the door. When she stepped outside, the two men guarding the door gave her a questioning look. "Miss Sarkissian is preparing for a night out. It would be best not to disturb her."

The men shared a look and straightened out - obviously, K hadn't hit far from the mark on that, and her ride down the elevator was uneventful. She let out a breath once she hit the sidewalk, waving off Viper's driver in favor of simply walking down the street. She had only just pulled out her comm to make a phone call when a pair of suited men with dark glasses bashed into her - hauling a preschooler with curly brown hair toward another office building. They said something terse to her in Japanese that she clearly didn't understand - but the screaming preschooler was obviously universal. The girl was kicking to get free, and without thinking about it, K found herself watching after her, even as more men in suits tried to block her view - and started shouting at her in rapid fire Japanese.

One of them was aggressive enough to back her up a few steps as he invaded her space and she looked up at him with wide eyes, clearly not understanding a word of it. He scowled at her for a long moment, then let out a grunt before he turned on his heel and went into the office building.

K looked up at the name and frowned deeper. She couldn't read Japanese, but whoever that guy was … he shouldn't have been manhandling a kid that small. She started toward the entrance, where of course, she was turned away - almost treated as a disobedient child herself as the man at the door stepped behind her and took her by the elbows to push her away from the door.

Which was exactly the kind of move that had K bristling. "Yeah, that's not gonna work," she muttered. She had no idea who these jokers were, but she did know that the girl most certainly didn't want to be with them.

But being a foreigner that didn't speak the language didn't really do her any favors. Of course, she didn't exactly want to  _waste_  any time when there was a terrified little girl involved either. The whole area of the Otemachi district where she stood wasn't much unlike being in the center of Manhattan's financial district. The buildings weren't quite so tall, but the same shimmering harsh glass and steel was enough to be disorienting if not for the fact that the names on the buildings were all in Japanese.

K let out a frustrated sort of sound and started to pace, and her frustration was clearly showing. She didn't even attempt to hide it, either. As an entirely unintended result, she was actually rewarded for her open display as a businessman came up to her and rested his hand at her elbow with a smile. She turned his way, frowning, not sure what it was he was up to until he finally spoke. "You look lost, miss …"

"I may be," she said, automatically withholding her name. "Do you know what this building is?" she asked - not in a mood to dink around.

He smiled a little wider and looked at the building in question. "It's a bank … Shigematsu Bank. Why? Do you have business there?" He was still smiling pleasantly, though a bit of that smile had slipped until K shook her head.

"I suppose I'm more lost than I thought," she said, shifting slightly. The man smelled of pickled ginger and gun oil … and at a glance, she saw just at his wrist the edge of a tattoo that his suit hid incredibly well. Just before he moved his hand, she noted that his left pinkie finger was missing. She didn't know everything, but she was entirely sure that this man was part of the Yakuza." I seem to have gotten in over my head. I thought it would be an adventure to come here without an interpreter, but I've mixed up the characters, and it seems I'm … I'm lost."

He smiled a little wider at that and offered her his arm. "If you tell me where you're staying, I can help you get there safely."

"I appreciate the offer," she said, told him the name of the hotel that she knew had been booked for her, but when they got partway close, he pulled her into the alley and just like that, the fight was on - and over. He'd been sure to get her to somewhere narrow, and she quickly dispatched him with a claw through his throat. She scowled as the man slid down the brick wall, and she didn't even wait for him to finish bleeding before she pulled his shirt open to reveal the tattoos - confirming her suspicions. As the man took his last few breaths, she rifled through his suit for his wallet - and growled when she saw the security pass for the Shigematsu building.

It seemed as if they were more than a little sensitive about foreigners today at Shigematsu. She frowned to herself and then circled around to the far side of the building, searching for the parking complex that was most certainly attached to the bank. It was a little harder to avoid detection in stilettos and a dress, but … then again, not everything required a hidden route. She managed to slip in the back entrance, and simply waved the yakuza soldier's card on her way through security - earning a coy sort of smile from the guard on duty.

Apparently even in Japan it wasn't overly unusual for men to use their badges to get women to spend time with them. Particularly in what was clearly a high-influence place like this.

Not knowing for sure where she was headed, K made her way up to the top floor - which of course, required the ID badge to even get the elevator to acknowledge the button, and once she stepped out, it was clear that tensions were high.

The room was a penthouse of sorts as soon as she stepped off of the elevator, and before the doors could close behind her, she was facing over a dozen guns pointed her way as several men barked at her in Japanese.

She wasn't exactly surprised, but she wasn't about to act like she was doing anything wrong either, so instead of moving, she simply stared back at them as she took in the scene - and the men got more and more angry at her non-compliance.

Until of course, Shigematsu himself stepped out of his office to see what the commotion was - with an American businessman in tow. "Is this one of your little tricks, Carmen?" Shigematsu asked, scowling deeply. "You knew that dealing with my organization had a steep price - and it was one that you said you were willing to pay."

"And … I did," Carmen said, looking entirely miserable.

"I know this isn't your wife," Shigematsu said - sounding entirely too amused, though for an instant, K felt sorry for Carmen when he sadly shook his head in agreement as Shigematsu turned his attention fully toward K. "How did you get into my private office?"

She simply raised the hand that held the stolen ID badge from the gentleman she's killed in the alley - and of course, one of the armed men strode forward to snatch it out of her hand before he spoke loudly and clearly to Shigematsu. K watched for a moment as they had a quick conversation, and had no idea how to react when one of them raised his gun more level to her head and two others stepped forward to pull her toward another room - though she heard Carmen asking for her what they were going to do with her.

She didn't hear the response though before she was shoved into an empty room. It looked like it could pass for a bedroom - or perhaps a holding cell if it wasn't decorated. K let out a breath and took a moment to look around the room, listening hard to everything around her. And though she could hear the men muttering down the hall, it was all in Japanese, so it wasn't like she knew what the hell they were even saying.

But … amid the low rumbles in a foreign tongue, and Carmen's incessant begging for his daughter, K finally heard something … soft. Quiet … and very small. She made her way over to press her ear to the wall, listening until she heard it again. The thin walls were easy enough to hear through, and she let out a breath when she realized the little girl was in the next room over. Terrified still and crying, but she was alive and likely in a set up much like K's.

And that … wasn't going to stand. At all. She made her way over to the door, and as soon as she tested it, the guard on the other side opened it and told her to sit down. So naturally, K opened by kicking him in the groin as hard as she could - then stuck a claw through his head. From there, she simply stalked toward the other men as if she only had one purpose in life, and as soon as she was even halfway close, she rushed in to take a hold of Shigematsu and stick his own gun under his chin.

The sound of pistols cocking all around her echoed in the open room, though no one shot. Not with their boss in the line of fire. "I'll make this easy on you," K said low in his ear. "I have no interest in this drunken fool that you have business with. All I want is the girl."

Shigematsu sputtered as K pressed the barrel harder into his temple. "She is not mine to give away. She was already promised to an associate of mine."

"Un-promise her," K growled.

"He would kill me," Shigematsu said quietly.

"What do you think is going to happen if I don't get her?" K asked.

It didn't take Shigematsu long to weigh it out before he nodded his agreement, and a moment later, the little curly haired girl was dragged out, sobbing and terrified.

"Do you want to get out of here?" K asked her, and after she glanced at her father tearfully, she nodded and rushed toward K.

"Ogun will find you," Shigematsu warned. "And he will take her back."

"I'm not worried," K said before she offered the girl her hand and then picked her up to carry her out, sobbing into her shoulder the whole way. Of course, once the elevator doors closed, K was already making her plan to get the hell out of that building as quickly as she could.

She got out a few floors before the main level and slipped down the stairwell, shushing the girl the whole way - and listening to angry shouts beyond the locked exits. She ducked and dodged her way out of the Financial district until they were closer to Viper's building, where at least K could backtrack toward her transport … maybe.

It was in one of their quiet hidden alcoves that she even got around to talking to the little girl. "What's your name?" K asked as the little one finally seemed all cried out. "I'm K."

She rubbed her eyes with her closed fists as she looked up and sniffled. "Kitty."

"Where's your mom, Kitty?" K asked, brushing the hair out of her face, but that only got fresh alligator tears to well up - and K quickly pulled her close to hush the little girl, trying to soothe her.

She swore when she thought it all through. This kid had been badly traumatized already, and there wasn't anyone on Avalon that would have the experience or the time to work with her. She paused and frowned at herself. That … wasn't entirely true. Emma had the know how. But just the thought of handing a young, impressionable mind over to Emma had K stifling the growl in the back of her throat. No. That … wasn't acceptable. The kid would be better off with Shigematsu and his weird little Ogun friend.

K looked at the scared little girl and bit her lip. The kid's best bet was the X-Men. But the X-Men were pushing to capture her, and there was no chance that the Avengers weren't at least in contact with them.

She got to her feet and weaved her way out of the district until she found a quiet American friendly place - that was even run by Americans. A little fast talking got her a room for cash and as soon as the little girl was fast asleep - traumatized and worn out - K let out a breath and called the X-Men looking for a pickup.

She waited until the now-familiar voice of Cyclops answered before she even drew a breath. "Please," she said evenly. "Don't hang up."

"Where did you get this number?" he shot back.

"I could explain it to you but that would take a lot of time, and I know you don't really want to spend that long talking to me," she said. "But I'm the only one that has it and I'm not going to share."

"I'm getting tired of all the exceptions to the rules," Scott said. "Unless you're calling to give yourself up, I'm not really-"

"I'm calling about a little girl. She is scared. Her mother is MIA and her father gave her away to a yakuza boss for a  _payment._ "

There was a pause on the other line for a split second before a very dull "what."

"That's what I said."

"For a  _payment_?"

"Yeah," she replied in a breath. "I saw her getting dragged into an office building kicking and screaming. No one on the street looked twice. So … I did some digging and I'm not entirely sure what they thought they were going to do … but I got her out."

There was a long pause on the other end again. "You said yakuza? Where are you?"

"Yes," she replied. "I'm in Tokyo. For now. I don't know how long that will work though." She shook her head as she thought about it. "I have no idea what Erik was  _thinking_. I don't know the language."

"I've got someone over that way. If you send me coordinates, he'll be there as soon as possible," Scott said. "

"Great," she said, sounding relieved. "I'll keep her safe until then. And I'll send the coordinates - so maybe don't destroy this burner until you get them?"

"Just until you send them," Scott agreed, then paused. "Listen, you and I both know the team is going to take you in, but for things like this? This is more important."

"Why do you think I'm calling?" she asked.

"I just wanted to make it clear - for the future," Scott said.

"Tony was crystal clear too," K said. "It's not me I'm worried about."

Scott let out an audible breath. "I know what he said," he said. "I also know you let yourself into Avengers tower just before it went down. But these pickups - these are neutral. I just want that to be clear, even after everything that's gone down. I'm not going to risk someone like Peter or Kurt not getting somewhere safe because of Magneto's staffing choices."

"That's why I'm calling you," she said in a flat tone. "I had already assumed that you were able of being bigger than that."

"Can't assume anything right now," Scott said.

"I can read your character, and I can be confident that you wouldn't do anything to hurt someone that has no choice in this. And these kids are about the only ones that fit that bill.  _Right_?"

"Yeah," Scott had to agree. "Innocents, kids - not going to let anyone get swept up in something they didn't ask for."

"Well little Kitty here has had an extra dose of misery," K said in a much softer tone. "I couldn't leave her to fend for herself when her own father had turned his back, okay?"

Scott paused. "When do you need to be back?"

"Honestly I don't know," she said in a breath. "Erik sent me to try to get a potential recruit that ended up being deep in Hydra. I killed her, so it's a matter of time before her group gets their panties twisted up."

"Is there an organization that you  _don't_ have coming after you?"

"At this rate? Um … I don't  _think_ I've pissed off the Hand yet. But … it's still early."

"Try not to go for broke before my man gets there," Scott said dryly. "I'll let him know you've got a little girl that needs help; he'll be there fast."

"Alright. Thanks. For what little it's worth." She didn't wait for the snipe that she was sure he had coming for her before she hung up and then sent the coordinates. She gave it a few minutes to show that it had gone through before she took her phone apart too. If he was going to be that way, she could be too. The tone itself was just about enough to get her rethinking even  _trying_ to deal with him again.

She let out a breath and turned to where Kitty was sleeping - taking a moment to double check that the blanket was over her shoulders before K at least took the heels off and tried to settle in to listen and watch.

None of this was working out for anyone. She was willing to try and stick it out for the sake of helping as many kids caught up in Magneto's madness that she could, but this one wasn't even in that. It was pure luck that K had even seen her - and there were no ties to any of the craziness that Magneto had been stirring up.

To add to it, Scott was right. She didn't have any friendlies, or even  _hope_ of any friendlies anymore. Not really. Wanda was as close to it as K could consider, but seeing as the Scarlet Witch was borderline crazy herself …

K pulled her feet up onto the chair she was sitting in and hugged her knees. As much as she preferred being alone, it was still a God-awful feeling to be  _that_ distrusted.  _Knowing_ that the only reason anyone wanted to keep you around was to make use of your abilities or to take advantage of the chinks in your armor. She still wasn't entirely sure that Wanda hadn't expected her to kill Pym. She didn't know the triggers in K's past … but she knew that K had an insanely high drive to protect women and children. And she was certainly her father's daughter.

She let out a breath to keep her emotions in check. If there was any way that she knew SHIELD could take her  _out_  … but that wasn't even on the table as far as Fury was concerned. She knew the Avengers wouldn't do it. Or the X-Men. And if Erik had been serious about his threats, she knew damn well he'd have made good on them by now. Of course, attacking Lorna would do it. But she didn't want to do anything that would upset the little twins. And he'd made it clear she wasn't allowed - or trusted - to leave on a permanent basis.

She rested her chin on her knees and like she'd done after so many missions with Weapon X, she considered how best to take herself out of all of it.


	18. Trouble In Tokyo

Logan was listening to the scuttlebutt in Lowtown when Scott made his call - and as it was, he had to head out of the main room of the Princess Bar just to hear what was going on considering that it was wildly fluctuating from raucous party to hushed rumors. "This better be important, Slim," he said as he finally got to a place where both of them could hear the other. "Things're just getting interesting."

"Like I'd call if it wasn't," Scott shot back. "I need you to go to Tokyo."

"Don't know if I can do that," Logan said. "Madripoor's had a little upset of power."

"You're the closest X-Man, and K called in with another kid," Scott said.

"Are you kidding me?" Logan asked in disbelief. " _Now_?"

"Do I ever kid about something like this?" Scott said.

Logan swore under his breath - and out loud several times as he complained mostly for the sake of complaining about it. "What the hell's the story now?"

"Little girl sold to yakuza by her own father," Scott said, the bite to his tone obvious even over the line.

There was a long silence and it was perfectly clear that Logan was trying to gain his footing from the whiplash. "Where is she?"

"I'll send you the coordinates," Scott said. He paused, then added, "I told K this would be a neutral meetup."

"Yeah, I'm not too worried about trying to catch her, you know that," Logan said, sounding a lot more like himself. "I still don't think she's that high a threat to us. Not really."

"She killed an Avenger, Logan."

"A jackass of an Avenger," Logan replied.

"She keeps getting my number," Scott said.

"Lucky you," Logan said sarcastically.

"It's not funny. I don't know how she's getting into our system, and if she ever decides it's worth it to turn that over to Magneto-"

"She was special ops, Slim. She knows how to get into Stark's lab - if she wanted to give Magneto anything, it'd be done already."

Scott let out a breath of frustration. "I'm not arguing this with you. Just - I'll send you the coordinates."

"Fine. I'll see you when I'm  _done_." Logan snapped his comm closed and then let out a long breath as he waited for the coordinates to come in. He took a moment to let it sink in - and picked up his glass of whiskey to take a long drink just as the comm buzzed with the coordinates.

Logan weighed it all out, and it wasn't long before he was wondering which faction of yakuza this was. Something the X-Men and most of the west didn't realize was that part of the yakuza was so prevalent was because they actually  _did_ protect their community. Some of them. And he really didn't know without knowing the names involved which branch this was. They were all crime, but some were less … awful than others.

With a grumble, Logan headed to his safehouse in Madripoor to drop off a few items - including the eyepatch that was his signature while he was on the island - and took a few moments to grab a healthy amount of cash before he headed to Japan. He lit a cigar on his way to the ferry, hands in his pockets and irked all around on oh, so many levels.

It would be just his luck if K had stirred up a hornet's nest with the yakuza for him to walk into.

* * *

It was nearly dawn when K heard a sound outside of her room, and she automatically glanced at Kitty, who was still sleeping in a tight little ball. She  _hated_ this trip. Everything about it. Her imagination had gone wild guessing what this Ogun person  _might_ have wanted this sweet little girl for - and she didn't like it one damn bit.

She got to her feet and crouched partway as she stalked toward the door, ready to fight. The knob turned on its own and K held her ground as the new person stepped in. They were tall and slim - and totally covered in black, and the instant they got into the room, K attacked. It was a grappling match, with a lot of kicks and elbows. The guy was vicious in his attack, and at some point, he managed to get both of her hands in one of his before he stabbed her in the side.

K couldn't help the little yelp when the blade cut into her any more than she could help it when her claws popped out an instant later - startling her assailant enough to let her get one hand free. With a swipe, she cut at his hand - and though he pulled his hand back quickly, she still managed to slice the tendon between his thumb and forefinger. He howled and swore in Japanese before he backhanded her hard enough to make her see stars - though from the swearing, she was pretty sure he'd broken that hand too.

With an almost hissed curse, the ninja stood up and kicked the hilt of the knife, driving it into K's side. She let out a cry of sheer pain, her vision going black more than at the edges, so she missed the ringing  _snikt_ that echoed before the ninja's body fell to the ground next to her.

She was hurting badly enough that she didn't quite register that Logan was trying to talk to her, but when he removed the knife, and put pressure on the wound, it finally sunk in as he tried to get her to calm down, shushing her quietly. "Take it easy," Logan said even as he put pressure on her wound. It was clear to him that she was in enough pain to be unable to think clearly, so he instead kept a steady stream of as calming a tone as he could manage until she finally looked up at him and nodded her head. "The blade was poisoned, you're gonna be having some problems for a while."

K nodded and leaned her head back on the ground before she turned her head toward the bed, where Kitty was curled up - her knees drawn up to her chin and the blanket held up to her nose. The girl looked positively terrified. "It's okay, Kitty," K said quietly. "He's here to help."

Logan tried to give the little girl a smile but the truth was, he really hadn't expected to find K like this - injured worse than she realized and looking like a proper lady, too. He shook his head at himself for the thought. He had no idea what she was like out of Magneto's circle of influence. Outside of the night she'd slipped out of their custody, Logan had only seen her in the field or on video, and though he'd been the one to pick up Kurt, too - he hadn't been  _this_ close to her before. So he'd missed out on a few of the finer details until now, some of which he'd have to be this close to even register. Like the way she bit her lip when she was trying to concentrate.

He shook his head and tried to focus again on the task at hand, turning his attention to Kitty, even though he had yet to take a hand off of K. "I'm Logan," he said. "Your friend here asked me to give you a ride to the school we have for kids like you."

But Kitty was even more wide-eyed at the idea of going  _anywhere_ with him. "No!" she said. "I want to stay with her!"

Logan turned to K, who closed her eyes and let out a breath. "How about both of you come with me for a little bit. I've got a place that no more ninjas will find you - and I won't take you to the X-Men yet."

"That wasn't the deal," K said quietly enough that only Logan could hear her.

"The deal wasn't with me, and it was made before you were hurt," Logan said as he picked her up bridal-style. "I'm not going to leave you here for some damn yakuza to take out. It's undignified."

She met his gaze with a frown then couldn't help but chuckle at him. "I had no idea you were worried about anything like that."

"That and I'm gonna need to talk to you before I go solve this problem. Which also means I'm gonna want you and Kitty to hang tight together."

K nodded at that and waved Kitty over. "Come on, it's okay, really. See? He's playing knight in shining armor and he's going to get us both to safety."

Kitty still looked reluctant, but the idea of a princess game had her perking right up. She slipped her shoes on and made her way over to hold on to Logan's shirt tail as he took them to a good safehouse he had in the city.

When Logan got the two of them more or less settled in, he took another moment to check K's injury - this time more thoroughly. He made a point to ask for her sizes so he could get her something to wear now that her dress was shot - not only from the blood, but also from the fact that he'd torn it where she'd been stabbed to access the wound.

"You don't have to do that," she said, shaking her head.

"I do if you want to get out of here without a hassle," he countered. "Even after this heals all the way, walking around with a half-shredded, bloodied up anything isn't a great idea." He shook his head at her. "The fact that it doesn't want to heal should be a solid indicator of how nasty a poison this is."

"I was poisoned earlier too," K admitted, letting out a breath and finally reclining all the way to just  _let him_ fix her up if he was going to be so insistent on it.

He looked up at her in question, though he didn't slow as he cleaned up the area."What happened?"

"Erik sent me to talk to a mutate that expressed an interest in his organization," she said quietly. "Like you guys, he's looking for friends with power to push his agenda." She held up both hands. "I'm not talking politics. I'm just stating facts. Anyhow … she'd hoped that he would be the one to personally show …"

"Who was she?" he asked as Kitty climbed up next to her to watch Logan work.

"Ophelia Sarkissian."

Logan stopped what he was doing, his hands hovering over K's side for a moment as he watched her. "And …"

"And," she looked at Kitty for a moment. "She's not a problem for anyone anymore."

Logan stopped what he was doing, and even though he was relieved to hear Viper was gone … "So that's the new recruitment strategy? Join or die?"

K let her shoulders drop as she shook her head. "No, of course not," she promised. "Not with me anyhow. Half of it was because she poisoned me, the other half was because I didn't like her Hydra connections."

Logan watched her for a moment, then swatted her hand away from where he was working - which at least got a giggle out of Kitty. "You don't like Hydra."

"Who does?" K asked, watching him more carefully now. The minutes ticked by as Logan finished cleaning her up and dressed the injury. But as soon as he was done, he sat back on his heels and rested his hands on his knees.

"Alright. Tell me everything about this yakuza mess now," he said, watching her intently as she started the story. Kitty didn't have anything to add, but she did nod her head from time to time to parts that she knew to be true, and when K was done telling Logan about it, Logan was frowning deeply. "The banker said that he wasn't even going to keep her."

"Did you hear what his name was? The guy that wanted her?" Logan asked, and both ferals paused when Kitty answered.

"Ogun," she said in a tiny voice. "They said that a lot, and my Dad was mad at first, but he didn't want to die like my mom … so …"

Both Logan and K stared at her for a moment, but K was a hair quicker to reach out and offer Kitty a shoulder to cry on, wrapping the girl up carefully. "Logan won't let that happen, will you?" K said, to which of course Logan agreed.

"This complicates things a little," Logan said as he began instead to get them moving again. "You need to get out of here. Both of you. I should take you both to Westchester right now."

"Woah, wait, no," K said, shaking her head. "I can't do that."

"Sure you can," Logan said. "It's easier than you think. You just get your ass on the jet and go."

K let out a breath, her eyes narrowed as she tried to reason with him. "I can't go there," she said. "It has nothing to do with the whole … Avengers thing either."

"I know," Logan replied, still looking perfectly relaxed. "This is for your safety and recovery … a lot of the stuff Viper uses -  _used_  is long lasting even with healing."

"I'll be fine," she said, though she was frowning as she said it.

"Sweetheart, you don't know what you're talkin' about."

"I know plenty ..." Logan raised his eyebrows at her and crossed his arms as her protest faded away. "Alright. Shut up. I'm still not going with you to Westchester."

"You're gonna need a better argument than that," Logan said before he offered her a hand, which she simply stared at for a moment.

"You mean outside of your soul sister telling me that this would be neutral?" she said just before Logan shook his head and scooped her up. She stiffened in his arms, though Kitty was giggling at watching him carry her.

"I'm gonna ignore that for now while I  _get you to safety_." He looked over at Kitty and gave her a little smile. "You think you can keep up, kitten?"

"My name is  _Kitty_ , not kitten!" she argued as one of her curls fell loose from her ear and bounced in her face.

"Yeah, but you're such a little kitty … that makes you a kitten," Logan teased - which had her  _finally_ smirking at him.

"Oh … okay," she giggled, rushing over to hold onto his shirt tail again. "I'm ready."

"I thought we couldn't go anywhere until I was in a different non-bloodied outfit," K said almost in his ear as he opened the door to the hideout.

"That was before you told me Ogun was involved. I can deal with him myself, but I don't want anyone else dependin' on me winnin' that scrap," Logan said. When K still looked like she was going to argue, Logan tipped his head toward her ear. "I'll take you to a midway point. A different safe house - away from Ogun's influence. And if you wanna argue with me about it, then I'll put your ass to sleep myself until we get there."

She turned his way, unable to find any whisper of a lie in the threat. "Okay," she said in almost a breath. Out of all of the heroes she'd crossed so far, she knew Wolverine wasn't going to pull any punches if he thought she needed to be down and out.

"There aren't any X-Men or Avengers, or even SHIELD that knows about this place," Logan promised. "I just want you to keep an eye on her while I put an end to the Ogun mess- and you can heal while you're there." He let out a breath and turned her way once again. "I  _don't_ want to see you hurt."

She shifted in his arms slightly, leaning toward him and draping her arms around him - to make carrying her a bit easier. "Is that … is that because I have the kid here? Or is it because I'm dressed the way I am?" She paused. "I know you have a thing about girls and kids …"

Logan bristled at that. "How about you keep your thoughts to yourself until we get to the safe house," he grumbled, and to his surprise, K didn't say a word, even going so far as to not catch his gaze. Even after he had both K and Kitty settled at the little hideout near Okinawa. "I'll be back. By tomorrow at the latest. If I'm not back in three days, call Scott again."

"I wrecked my phone," K admitted, which had him frowning deeper at her. "I just …"

"He ticked you off, didn't he?" Logan asked flatly. "He does that. Don't let him get to you. Hang tight. Drink a lot of water."

With that, he left her alone with Kitty, and though K was in no position to really argue it - or to try to relax, Kitty was more than happy to explore the house. "So much for clothes that will let us fit in," K muttered to herself. It wasn't twenty minutes later though that Kitty came screeching back to her, terrified - and as K stood up, ready to fight, she was quickly surprised by the older woman that came in with her arms full of boxes.

"Logan-san told me to make sure you were comfortable," the little old woman said. "You need to clean up - I brought clothes for both of you." She set the boxes down and bowed slightly. "I am to help you both to settle in. You may call me Moshii." The woman smiled at them both, and Kitty held onto K a bit tighter as K forced her shoulders to relax.

Moshii wasn't lying to them, yet considering how stressed they both were, they weren't exactly against sticking close to each other, and Kitty simply covered her eyes and turned her back while K got cleaned up quickly in the bath.

When she came out to where Moshii was waiting though, K had to frown. She honestly didn't recognize the clothing styles at all, not until Moshii made her way forward to 'help' her. "If you've never worn his style of kimono- "

"I've … never worn anything like this," K said, frowning as the old woman handled dressing her. By the time Kitty came out a short while later, K had been wrapped up in a pale pink wisteria-patterned kimono with a green and pink sash around her waist.

Kitty was smiling outright when she saw her, and rushed over, towel wrapped tightly around herself. "You look nice," Kitty said after K had gotten done giving her a little hug.

"Then you won't mind wearing yours, little one," Moshii said with a kind smile as she pulled out a deeply royal blue ensemble for Kitty to wear. Kitty was excited to wear the little outfit, and was a lot easier for Moshii to get dressed, and when she was all done, even her long curls were up in a high ponytail that swung when Kitty spun in a circle, smiling to herself but not yet letting a giggle slip through.

"You're beautiful, Kitty," K told her when she got done with her spin, and the two of them headed for the main room of the little house where Moshii had directed them to go. As Logan had predicted, K was still sore and her side was pulling, even with the bandages that Moshii had insisted she wear to cover the slowly closing wound.

While K and Kitty had been cleaning up, Moshii had been hard at work setting the two of them up with food. By the time the three of them had eaten, K was worn and ready to sleep. Moshii herded her toward a bedroom, and then spun her around to untie the knot at the back of the obi at her waist. "Wait ... " K said, as Moshii carefully folded the silk away.

"I'll be back in the morning to get you dressed again," Moshii said.

"If you tell me what to do, I can do it myself," K told her, but Moshii wouldn't hear it.

"Not if you're a proper lady. Go to sleep. I'll dress you tomorrow." She gave Kitty a kind smile and similarly helped the little girl get down to her under robe as well before she left the two of them to settle in for the night.

It was hard to get comfortable in the new surroundings, and Kitty didn't even consider sleeping alone - instead joining K in the room Moshii had set her up in, and when morning came, it was clear they were still alone.

Moshii showed up not long after K was awake, and she had breakfast cooking by the time that K stepped out of the room in her robe … but that was one step over the line for Moshii and after what sounded like scolding, she ushered K into the bedroom again and carefully tamed her hair and redressed her in the same pink and green floral affair from the day before, though she was more careful about the knot being tighter now that it was clear that the wound was healed up.

K didn't have time or opportunity to argue, but then, she wondered if that wasn't the point, and by the time that Moshii was totally done, Kitty was awake. The same process for Kitty was achieved much quicker, and the little girl even giggled partway through the final bits of dressing, which left K smirking as she watched Moshii lovingly tease Kitty and finish up before she guided them both to sit down and eat.

There was little to do, and by the second day of Moshii pampering them, K was starting to wonder how long she would be  _allowed_ to stay in the little house with the bright eyed little girl. She and Kitty spent the both days playing little games and getting to know one another. Hour blended into hour, the only notification that time was moving swiftly was the little moments where Moshii would come in with meals and insist the two of them ate, and it wasn't until an hour after dark - after Kitty had worn herself out catching fireflies - when the two of them finally came in and went through the routine to sleep - which of course, included Moshii getting them into robes after a bath.

K was honestly starting to feel like a little kid by the way Moshii was treating her when she laid down on the sleeping mat that night. But she wasn't tired yet. Not that tired anyhow. Kitty had curled up with a jar of fireflies next to her, blinking away to accompany her as she fell asleep. K played with the very ends of her curls as the little girl slept on for almost an hour when she heard a noise at the door. She carefully left Kitty sleeping in bed to investigate.

But when she saw it was Logan - and that he was banged up pretty solidly, she simply rushed over to help him get to somewhere he could sit down. He was wincing and bleeding, and K didn't wait for prompting to get whatever she could find to clean  _him_ up this time, swatting his hand away as she took care of his injuries.

"What happened?" K asked, though at least a dozen other questions rushed through her mind before she settled on that one.

"Fought Ogun, and I  _think_ I killed him," he said, wincing again when she got his shirt the rest of the way off - part of it had healed into his skin already, and K was swearing under her breath as she tried to carefully work it out for him. "Then I got jumped by Hand ninjas on the way out."

"That was your enemies then?" she asked, shaking her head to herself.

"Yeah, but they might have words for you if they see you now. Seein' as they saw us together," Logan said. "But the girl … I'll get her to Westchester. She should be fine. I found her father in a dumpster. His banker musta got tired of him - or Ogun did."

"How badly are you hurt?" K asked. She'd already started to clean up the blood where he was kneeling on the floor. She was making a rather concerned face at the amount of blood in his hair when he caught her hand.

"I'm doin a lot better'n I was a couple hours ago," Logan said. "I'll be fine."

"I'm sure," she said, not fighting him as he kept a grip on her wrist. "But seeing as you made sure I was safe and alright, it's my turn to return the favor."

Logan held her gaze for a moment, but winced as something beneath the skin migrated closer to the surface. And that was all it took for K to push him backward. "You need to lay flat and let them work out."

"I know that," Logan grumbled, but he quit complaining all together when she started pulling to get the rest of his bloodied clothes off.

"Do you need help getting to the bath?" K asked, already working to get him to his feet as she slipped under his arm to lever him up.

"I … can probably get it," he said, smirking when she caught his gaze and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. Help me get there. I'll take care of the rest."

K nodded at that and helped him the rest of the way. She cleaned up what she could and took his bloodied clothes to throw away before she simply went back to lay down by Kitty.

By the time he got out of the bath - clean, dry, and in a robe of his own, he paused when he saw her curled up. "You pick this room or did Moshii?"

"She did," K said, picking her head up slightly. "Why?"

"Just tryin' to figure out if it was your choice or hers to put you in my bed."

K paused then looked around the room with a little start. "I can .."

"Stay where you are. I'll go out to the couch. Don't worry about it," Logan said before he started that way - slowly.

K laid there only for a few more minutes before she got up again and headed out to the kitchen, taking the time needed to work up something hot for him to eat, though she didn't bother asking him his opinion on it before she brought it to him. She set the tray down in front of him and then took the seat to his left, waiting to make sure he was on the mend. She didn't say a word, and when he was done, she simply took his plate back to the kitchen to clean up.

He was asleep when she got back, and she let out a sigh before she put a blanket over him and then went back to curl up with Kitty, wondering when she was going to get out of whatever this arrangement was.


	19. Farewell To The Rising Sun

The morning after Logan had come in looking like hell warmed over, K was awakened by Moshii - who once again had shown up to get the ladies dressed. Kitty was already up - and sitting in a chair kicking her feet as she watched Moshii push for K to get moving.

"Take it easy, lady," K said as Moshii pulled at K's hair - brushing it as smoothly as she could before she fashioned it into a bun high on the back of K's head. She had no idea why Moshii was being so much of a perfectionist until she was finished and Kitty clapped delightedly.

"That's so pretty!" Kitty whispered - and it wasn't until then that K looked down to realize that Moshii had brought a slightly more elegant kimono for her to wear. Which had her thinking …

But Kitty was with Moshii in pushing K out of the bedroom where Logan was sitting at the low table with tea. He was still looking a little rough, but nothing like what he'd looked like the night before, and when he glanced up at K, he stopped what he was doing and simply watched her make her way over.

"You look nice," Logan said, which had Moshii looking so smug, it was almost unbearable.

"You look a lot better," K replied. "But thank you. It's all the work of your  _äktenskapsmäklerska_."

Logan smirked a little more crookedly. "I don't know that one," he said.

"I'm sure you can figure it out," K replied as she sat down next to him - the only seat available, of course.

But Kitty still wasn't sold on Logan, so K tried to let the history slip to the side as she made nice with him.

She was sure to dive in, talking about the school - and how smart Kitty was, but even so, Kitty had been scared by Logan enough that it took a few days before Kitty even began to warm up to him. It had been … unexpectedly fun. For all three of them. And by the time they were ready to say goodbye, Logan took a moment and pulled K over to him. He dropped the volume of his voice to a level that Kitty couldn't quite hear. "You sure you don't want to go back with me?" Logan asked softly.

K smiled quietly at that. "You're very kind to offer."

Logan smirked. "You misunderstand, darlin'. I'm not askin' for the X-Men. Or the Avengers." When she didn't answer him right away, he pulled her over and gave her a long kiss. "Offer's always open."

"Don't you have to turn me in or something?" K asked.

"That's for the others to figure out," Logan replied. "Can't be as bad as you think though. You've been doin' good too."

"I'll consider it," K said, though she was already under the impression that it was a bait and switch kind of situation. "I'm not interested in a cell though."

"Who is?" Logan asked. "You don't know it's gonna go that way."

"Except for the fact that both Scott and Captain America have told me it is," she said. "Thank you for the save. Fantastic heroism. Five stars."

Logan let out a breath. The truth was that he really did want to get her to the X-Men, but she was right, and he knew that if he was fighting the whole of his team  _and_ the whole of the Avengers, it just wasn't going to be a situation where his word would be honored. He reached out and took a hold of her wrist. "Hey. If you get into trouble, call me. I won't change my number, and I know you can dig it up."

She gave him a sad sort of smile. "That's gonna be bothersome," she said. "In case you didn't get the memo - I'm always in trouble." She shifted his hold on her wrist so she could give his hand a little squeeze. "Thanks, really. I'll find some way to get this kimono back to Moshii."

But Logan waved her off at that. "Keep it. It suits you. And I already paid for it anyhow."

K's attention was diverted when Kitty rushed over and wrapped herself around K's legs. "See you soon?" she asked, smiling up at her.

K rested a hand on the back of Kitty's head. "Maybe. It was great to meet you, kitten."

Kitty looked sad before K crouched down and wrapped her up in a bear hug. "Take care of Logan, would you?"

Kitty nodded and gave K a kiss on the cheek, then pulled at her hand. "You gotta kiss him goodbye!"

K looked up at Logan from where she was still crouched by Kitty to find him smirking at her. "Alright," K said before she stood up and meant to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, though he turned his head and stole a little bit better one before they parted ways. "You're a troublemaker."

"Maybe," he said before he picked up Kitty and let her ride on his shoulders when they parted company. "Think it over, darlin'."

* * *

Her communicator was going crazy by the time she got back to Tokyo - and she didn't have long to wait before Pietro had come down to get her. "Killed the contact, huh?" he asked, smirking, though he didn't wait for her answer. "Good. She was about as rancid as they come." It was only then though that Pietro seemed to realize what K was wearing as he dropped his sunglasses to the tip of his nose and looked over them at her. "Oh. That's … that looks like something Wolverine would go for."

K froze for just a second and turned his way, unable to stop the little blush that rose up at her cheeks - which really only had Pietro grinning wider at her. "Busted."

"It's a long story," she said with a grumble.

"I can imagine. A long story that ends with you dressed up like a little geisha and off comms for days at a time. I can fill in the blanks."

"It wasn't like that," she argued.

"Sure it wasn't," Pietro said flatly. "You forget that I've spent plenty of time with the good guys too, and I know what they'd go for. You, my dear … are right up his alley."

She growled at that and turned his way. "I got tangled up -"

"I knew it."

"-  _with yakuza_  that were dealing in kids." When she finished she was clearly frustrated with him.

But Pietro was more subdued on hearing it. "Was it mutant kids?"

"What difference does it make?" K said, throwing her hands in the air.

But at that, Pietro gestured to the open mic light on the dash of the transport. "It makes a world of difference," Erik's voice said, echoing through the cabin. "Am I wrong in assuming that you contacted Wolverine or one of his associates to take the child?"

"No, you're not wrong," K said in a dull tone. "But she was small. Just … not even in school yet. I'm not going to  _only_ help kids that are clearly mutants. That age - I'm just … I can't ignore it."

"We'll discuss this further when you arrive," Erik said, ending the discussion as the light flipped off.

"If I had known you'd been working - instead of … well.  _Working_ I'd have warned you," Pietro said. "He's got them all remote now. He can turn them on at any time."

"This … is going to be not so much fun," K said, and for that, Pietro gave her a little smirk and took a more winding path up to Avalon.

* * *

After a long - and droning 'talk' with Erik about her actions in Japan, all of which happened with Erik looking down his nose at the kimono K was wearing, she finally started to make her way to her room, though she was interrupted by Billy and Tommy.

She spun with them as they reached for her, though even Tommy stopped short when he touched the kimono. "Oooooh," he said, pausing to look at the flowers near the hem where they were darkest. "That's pretty."

"Thank you," K said, reaching down to rest her hand on his head. "It is, isn't it?"

Billy had caught up by then and was smiling at the flowers along the edges. "So pwetty," he said quietly, barely reaching out to touch the fabric.

"You can touch it," K said. "I doubt I'll wear it again any time soon."

"What takeded you so  _looong_ ," Tommy asked, though neither little boy was jockeying to be picked up.

K thought about it for a moment, but then decided to tell them the truth - just to see how they would handle it. "I think … that's a story that's best told with cookies, don't you?"

The boys shared a look and broke into broad grins before they each took a hand and they headed down to Wanda's. K was sure to tell the story as dramatically as she could, though she left out the worst parts of it. The boys were positively captivated and watched her with wide-eyes, even reveling in the part where she told them that it had been Wolverine that had gotten her out of trouble and carried her to safety.

But when it was all done, they were both a little awed. And focused on totally different things. Tommy of course, was doing little karate chops and trying to emulate the ninjas, but that dropped to the wayside when he heard his brother's concerned tone. "What happened to the little girl?" he asked quietly. "Now that her mom is gone and her dad is … stupid?"

K let out a long breath and looked up at Wanda, who had tears in her eyes at hearing Billy's question. "She'll be taken care of now," K promised. "Wolverine took her to a school that has lots of mutant kids."

"So she was a mutant? How did you know?"

"Did she have scales?"

"Did she breathe fire?"

"Did she  _control your mind_?" Tommy asked, leaning close enough to rest his forehead against hers as he looked her in the eyes.

"No, she didn't control my mind, or breathe fire, or have scales ...I don't know if she's a mutant. I only know that she was small. And scared. And needed help."

Billy nodded once. "Good. Because that's what you do! Help kids. Right?"

"I try," K agreed as Billy made his way closer to snuggle in for a hug - though Tommy wasn't far behind him. Surprisingly, neither of the boys asked why she didn't bring the girl  _there._  But that mystery was solved quickly enough when Tommy started to pull at her arm.

"You were gone for- _everrrrr_ ," he said. "You gotsta stay longer now!"

"And read to us, too!" Billy said. " _Pleeeeeaaaasee_."

K couldn't help but to laugh at that, but Wanda swept over to get the boys and pull them to their room. "You'll be by for breakfast tomorrow, right?" Tommy called out.

"For pancakes!" Billy agreed over Wanda's shoulder as the two boys started plotting out their day.

"Sure," K said. "As long as your mom is fine with it."

"Please," she said, pausing at the door to the boy's room. "They've been looking for you and the stories that go along with it all. And I'm  _sure_ there's a little more to it."

"Maybe a little," K admitted, though she waved at the boys as they called out their 'good night'. Vision was smirking to himself as she turned to leave. There wasn't anyone in the halls on her way to her room, and it wasn't until she sat down on the bed that she realized that she might have a small problem with the kimono. She tried to reach behind herself, but couldn't find the end of the knot. Apparently Moshii had been very careful to secure the ends well, and of course it was tight enough she couldn't yank it around to the front, and in such a spot that she couldn't just … do it herself.

She stood up and made her way over to the full length mirror to try and figure out how to get out of the obi without cutting it, though that wasn't something she was going to take off the table. Yet. It was just that she really hated to wreck it.

K let out a grumble to herself. Even though she knew it was likely all Moshii's doing, the kimono was lovely, and as close to a decent gift as she'd gotten in ages. She was trying to think of who might be able to help her at this hour when there was the odd little bamf sound that fell flatly in the suite. She turned to find Vrykolakas reclined on her bed and smirking at her.

"You do know that it's considered bad etiquette to sleep in one of those," he said in a drawl.

"Well I don't have the lady that helped me with the knot. I'm not willing to cut it, and it'll be at least an hour before I can ask Wanda," K listed off before she shrugged openly.

Vrykolakas smiled to himself and got to his feet only to teleport so that he was standing behind her. "You don't need to bother the witch," he said over her shoulder. She felt a little tug and looked down to see that he had started to carefully untie the somewhat elaborate bow, though as soon as she felt the long tail from the bow at the back of her legs, his hands slipped around her waist to untie the hidden sashes and rope tucked into the front.

"Whoever tied this was very old fashioned," he said quietly just over her shoulder, taking his time with every step.

"I think I can handle it from here," K said, but that only had him chuckling as he pulled her closer under the guise of undoing the last knot, though it was clearly  _not_ necessary.

"Don't be so ridiculous," Vrykolakas said. "You didn't get into this on your own, you can't expect to get out of it without someone that knows what they're doing." He paused and held her gaze in the mirror with a significant look on his face. "As it is in so many things."

She held her breath for a moment before the obi finally went slack, though he kept his hand at her waist as he slowly unwrapped the long silk sash. She started to move forward, frowning to herself as he was quick to pull at the shoulders of the kimono. She still had a dressing robe on underneath it, but it felt more than a little odd to watch him carefully folding up the long silk. "Thank you," she said, watching his every move. "But I think I've got it."

"What about some wine before you call it a night?" he offered as he set the folded up kimono to the side.

"Maybe next time," K said. "It's been a long few days and I really just want to sleep." She kept her distance, and was careful not to get  _too_ close. After all that time in Japan, she was a little more wary of taking drinks - especially when she knew he could do something to get the booze to have more of an impact.

"You know, my dear," Vrykolakas said, his tail swaying slowly behind him. "My offer is still your best option. We both know it. And there will come a time very soon when you'll see that without a shadow of a doubt."

"In the meantime, you're still going to try to find a way to just … talk me into bed," she said, frowning slightly.

He held his hands out wide, his smile unfaltering. "Can you blame me? Everyone else that you come into contact with is getting what they want for nothing. I see no reason not to try for the same myself."

"And … I'm sure that's in part because you haven't figured out how to stop Erik from fiddling with adamantium," K said, which was at least enough for him to lose some of his smile.

"It will happen nonetheless," he said in a much shorter tone. "Just a matter of time - and desperation." His smooth tone and smile came back in force. "In the meantime, please, continue to enrage those 'heroes' that once would have given you sanctuary. It only makes my job easier the more clear it is that you are facing imprisonment at best should you find a way to leave on your own." When she visibly paused, he tipped his chin down. "You know where to find me when you've realized that trivial things like alliances and friendships are simply kind names for the many ways that people use each other."

He teleported over and picked up her hand. "At least with me you can get something back for a change." He lifted her hand to kiss the back of it before he released it and disappeared again in a cloud of red.

K frowned and looked down at her robe, only waiting to take it off until she'd closed her door. Not that it would make a difference with Vrykolakas skulking around. She slipped out of the robe and headed for her shower, more than relieved to wash the scents from the little house in Okinawa away. It would be easier to focus if she couldn't  _smell_ it after all.

* * *

Kitty wasn't settling in nearly as well as the boys had. Like both of them, she'd more or less imprinted on Logan, but unlike the boys, she was a little more sneaky about following him around - even when taking their wall crawling into consideration.

The boys certainly had a boys club, and they weren't afraid to let her know exactly how it was when they both sat on the ceiling and waved at her knowing full well she couldn't reach them.

Kitty stood with her hands in fists on her hips as she glared up at them - her lip thrust out and a frown on her face. "You come down right now and  _play with me!_ " she said. But the two boys were simply giggling more at her irritation. "Fine! Be that way!"

She stomped away from both of them, more hurt than angry if she was being honest. And she didn't know where to even start, so she did the only thing she could think of … and rushed out to the garage where Logan was smoking a cigar, working on his bike, and listening to the hockey game on the radio. "Hey punkin', what's got you bugged?" Logan asked.

She did her best to keep from crying as she climbed up on the bucket to sit next to him while he worked. "Nothin'," she said, feeling a bit foolish for getting so upset over a couple of dumb boys.

Logan set down his tools and wiped his hands off on a rag before he put his arm around her and let her snuggle in. "Boys bein' idiots?" he asked quietly, to which Kitty simply nodded, her face buried in the shoulder of his shirt. "They'll stop. Just don't put up with their crap, alright?"

"But they won't play with me!"

"Their loss," he said. "Don't play with them when they want to come around."

She looked up at him with wide eyes. "But I wanna play!"

Logan let out a sigh at that. "You want me to teach you how to kick their butts?"

She giggled at that and nodded her head. "Please!"

He turned her way with an eyebrow raised. "You know the bigger kids have to learn that stuff - just when they're bigger."

"Yea-ah," she said slowly, losing some of the smile as her shoulders shrugged up. "But when the boys are together they don't wanna play, and I'm  _tired_ of being left out!"

Logan got up and offered her his hand. "Awright. Let's get you goin' on how to  _defend yourself_ if they push you or try to steal a kiss."

"Eew! They don't wanna play with me, why would they wanna kiss me?" she asked, her nose scrunched up.

"Because boys are idiots sometimes," Logan said, frowning to himself as he thought it over, wondering if the look K had given him after he'd stolen that first kiss was because of that very thing. He swore to himself, realizing that he hadn't likely been as clear as he thought.

"Well I'm  _not_ kissin' them," Kitty said, crossing her arms over her chest. "They're  _jerks._ "

Logan couldn't help but smirk at her angry little features - all determination and 'fight me'. "Alright, kitten, let's get you started."

Kitty unfolded her arms and smiled up at him, already a little too excited to be in training than Logan was used to seeing from kids that  _knew_ they needed help.

…...

From Swedish:

 _Äktenskapsmäklerska_  - matchmaker


	20. Savannah

Erik had been sure to warn K against rescuing any kids that she wasn't sure were mutants … though he didn't have a way to enforce it, and seeing as Genosha wasn't ready yet, he couldn't even brook an argument with her to stop without a way to prove they weren't mutants. She particularly liked the part where she threw 'innocent until proven guilty' in his face, and he had no response. Not in front of the rest of the gathered group of followers anyhow. He would have lost far more than a little face had he said anything in front of Wanda - particularly since Wanda herself had no way to tell if her own children were mutants themselves.

And because of that, and the last interaction she had with Cyclops, when she called the Institute with not just one kid, but  _three_ little blondes ranging in age from a six months up to six years old, it had actually taken her a little time to decide what to do. It had been an unexpected thing, as always, but this time … the contact that K had met up with for the Assassin's Guild in Georgia had given her the kids as some odd kind of proof of loyalty to who they thought was winning the fight. Though what in the world the Guthrie family had done to cross them, K had no way of knowing.

Unlike last time, K didn't actually want to talk to Scott, and instead of dealing with him, she'd instead gotten the number to speak directly to Charles. She had no way of knowing who would be coming, but she wasn't in the mood to play too many games or listen to a lecture. Not when she was busy entertaining a traumatized six year old that was working hard to take care of his three year old sister and six month old brother.

Of course, of the three, the youngest was the easiest to win over, but when little Paige saw the way that K was gently tickling Josh, she warmed up pretty quickly. Sam watched from nearby - a little frown on his face as he carefully kept an eye on everything going on, but he too, found himself gravitating closer the more it was clear that his siblings were in good hands.

"Go ahead," K said as she took out a little bottle of sunscreen and started taking care of getting Josh covered. Which, in and of itself was enough to get Sam to admit he was hungry and  _join_ his little sister as she cheerfully nibbled at the cut fruit and little sandwiches K had brought to their parkside picnic. Josh was outright giggling after K got the sunscreen on his face, though he'd held perfectly still as she rubbed a swath down his nose.

As soon as she was done with Josh, she gave him some little pieces of melon and berries to try to eat, though he was much more interested in squishing the pieces and belly laughing. And as he played in the shade, Paige came over to ask for sunscreen too, though it was Sam that explained: "We get burnt real fast," even as he took a moment to put his own on while his sister was being taken care of.

The three kids were a lot more hungry than they'd initially let on and K made a mental note to look into how the Assassin's Guild had treated them. She'd finished with Paige's sunscreen and gotten the kids to settle down enough to eat when Jean and Scott made their appearance. K looked over her shoulder at them, over the top of her dark sunglasses and kept a mostly neutral response. "They're not finished with their food yet, you'll have to wait." She paused and fixed Scott with a look for just a moment. "I won't rush them."

Josh was still grinning up at K every time he got a handful of melon or raspberries squished between his fingers, one eyebrow arched up as if he really thought he was getting away with murder. And that was enough for Jean to more or less melt as she made her way over to grin at the little guy.

"Oh, he couldn't be older than… a few months, maybe?"

"Six months if what they told me was right, and he's eating soft food alright," K said as she handed him a few blueberries to squish. "This is Josh, the beauty in the pigtails is Paige … and the young man in charge is Sam." She looked up at Jean squarely. "You'll have to get the details from them. What I got was spotty at best."

Jean nodded, still clearly enchanted with Josh. "Scott said you didn't say much this time other than the Assassin's Guild, but we have Gambit looking into it."

"I talked to Charles," K said. "And that's really about all I know on how they came into this." She shook her head and handed Jean Josh's sippy cup, which he quickly gravitated toward Jean for. "Erik knows I'm handing off kids. He knows there isn't the room or the supplies to deal with them on Avalon and I'm not pushing for it."

"He's alright with it?" Jean asked, though her whole focus was on Josh as she let him settle in her arms, tickling his chin with a smile that made it hard for Scott to really say anything in the conversation at all.

"I had a very convincing argument," K told her as she got out the wet wipes to clean up Josh's hands. "As for how long that holds out … we'll see."

Paige got up and made her way over to K with her cup, which she had already finished, and asked for more juice - even with a little 'pwease'. She bounced in place as K set her up and the little girl rushed back to her brother with not only the juice but a couple of graham crackers too. K didn't ask Sam if he wanted any- and she handed the package to Scott without warning of any kind, sure that the bigger kids would simply ask whoever was holding the goodies when they were ready.

"What's your plan when Magneto stops approving these handoffs?" Scott asked.

"Probably keep doing it anyhow," she said, though she didn't turn his way at all.

Scott frowned her way. It wasn't like the handoffs had ever been  _friendly_ , but the almost cold shoulder was something else entirely. "What, you're really that mad I made you spend time with Wolverine? I know it's a pain, but he was the closest."

She let out a long sigh. "He was fine, actually. Very gentlemanly. How's Kitty fitting in?"

"Forcing the boys to come down off the walls with guilt trips," Jean sang out with a smirk. "She won't let them leave her in the dust."

She frowned at that and turned toward Jean. "What are you talking about - on the walls?"

"Kurt and Peter both can walk on walls," Scott explained. "We're not sure where Peter gets it from, but it seems to be part of Kurt's mutation."

She tipped her head to the side at that. "Then I'm glad he and Peter are doing so well together. I know he was nervous about meeting new kids." She turned toward Scott finally. "I haven't spent much time with the little Guthries, and I've already explained that you two were going to take them to a school with other kids." She gestured to the one bag nearby leaning on a park bench. "That's everything they have. I can wait while you go through it."

Scott frowned but nodded, so Jean was the one to take a moment to talk to K while he was busy, with a very quiet, "Are you sure you don't want to come too?"

"Very."

"I know what Scott and Captain America have said to you-"

"I won't be of any use to you if I go along," K said, cutting her short. "At least this way I'm pulling out kids you wouldn't find otherwise."

Jean frowned. "It's just that… I trust Logan's character judgement," she said even quieter.

"Then you're the only one that does."

"That's not true," she said. "Anyone who's had any chance to talk to you knows you're not in lock step with Magneto." She let out a sigh. "And even the more stubborn members of the team know that if nothing else, Logan knows how to spot a lie. Give us that much credit, at least."

She turned her way and held her gaze. "I've never lied to any of you about anything."

"I wasn't suggesting you did - I just meant he … never mind," Jean said, frustrated at the turn of the conversation. "I just meant - I'm trying to help."

"Listen, I'm getting into places you guys can't - or won't. So let me do this. You wouldn't have anything for me to  _do_ if I went along, and it'd only bring trouble, so just … let it go."

Jean blinked at her for a moment, but anything she might have said was interrupted when the silence of their conversation was just in time for them to catch Sam's awed outburst of "-with your  _face_?"

"Two down," K said under her breath.

Jean shook her head, but with Sam in Scott's orbit, it was clear that this was the right opportunity to get the kids moving toward the jet. "Think about it?" she said over her shoulder as she went toward the boys.

"Sure. If you can think about what would actually happen," K replied as she started cleaning up. She put all the little snacks and food that was left over in the basket along with what was left of the juice, then folded up the blanket to set on top of the basket. "They picked out their treats," K told Jean. "So you should take it all along."

"Thanks," Jean said, still with Josh tucked in her arms as she levitated the rest of it - which got a little gasp out of Paige as she scrambled over to see the flying snacks and basket.

"It's  _flying_!" she said, her eyes wide.

Jean grinned at her. "Do you want to try it?" she asked, which only got an enthusiastic, wide-eyed nod - and before Jean even had time to blink, Sam had joined Paige and both of them were whooping and giggling over their magic basket ride.

K watched them for a moment as they got themselves gathered up, and by the time Jean turned around again, K was gone.

Jean shook her head as she directed the giggling kids into the jet, and while the first half of the flight was spent with three delighted kids asking all kinds of questions about Scott's optic beams, the other half fell into merciful silence as the kids eventually wore themselves out… with only a  _little_ help from Jean to drift off to sleep.

 _You cheated with Paige, didn't you?_ Scott projected to her with a quiet smirk.

_Are you complaining, Mr. Summers?_

Scott's smirk widened as he shook his head.  _I'm not stupid, Ms. Grey. I'd never complain if you wanted a little time alone._

Jean let out a breath of a laugh and reached over to shove Scott in the shoulder, though while he was still grinning, she let her shoulders drop and projected to him how the conversation with K had gone - as well as her suspicion that K wasn't exactly a willing participant.

_The way she was talking… it sounded like this was the only option she saw._

_Are you sure you're not reading into it? I mean, consider the alternatives: she can't join the team-_

_Scott, you're just proving my point,_ Jean cut in.

Scott rubbed a spot in the center of his forehead.  _What do you want me to do about it? We can't just ignore everything she's done._

 _Shouldn't that include saving little kids and warning the Avengers… warning_ us  _about danger?_

Scott shook his head.  _Jean…_

_Is it that hard to admit that Logan might be right?_

_That's not it,_ Scott projected back, then let out a long sigh that showed just how frustrated he was.

Jean waited, but when Scott didn't offer her anything further, she took a little peek and then let out a breath when she saw where his head was. "Captain Rogers is still mad about what happened with Hank Pym and the fact that she managed to slip out of Avengers custody," she said. "But don't you think he'd be willing to listen if there  _is_ more to this story? He listened when you explained what the problem was with SHIELD."

Scott let his shoulders drop slightly but didn't look her way for a long time as he considered it. "Alright," he said at last. "I'm not promising anything, but…"

Jean smiled and leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Thank you, Scott."

* * *

K had watched the little group head out, sure to stay out of sight as they loaded up into the jet and took off. It was a relief to know that those three little toe-headed sweethearts were going to be around other kids - and she hoped that there wouldn't be too much favoritism from one kid to the next, but she wasn't overly optimistic. It was human nature for most after all.

She looked down at her hands and clenched them for a moment before she decided to head back to her hotel room to clean up and get changed. It was just one of those things that was easier dealt with like that over trying to get the sticky off after wrangling three small kids.

But when she stepped out of the hotel, once again in a much more fashionable ensemble with her hair swept up instead of the jeans and tee she had when she met the X-Men, she felt like she could let out a breath and take a little time to herself.

She took a moment to smooth the fabric over her stomach before she started off down the street in search of something relaxing to do with her evening to herself. And with how she was feeling, she was sure that the last thing she wanted was a glass of wine which would only serve as a reminder of Vrykolakas, so she headed for the most upscale looking bar and took a seat as she waited for her lemon martini.

She'd given the barkeep a warm smile as she took the glass and had barely lifted it to her lips when someone familiar pulled up the seat next to her with a smirk.

"There's the girl I've been looking for," Tony said, smirking to himself. He waved the barkeep over and quickly ordered a single malt on the rocks - double, of course.

"You've been looking for me?" K asked turning his way slightly. "What for and … how?"

"Well, pretty sure everyone's keeping an eye open for you but this? This look … is  _much_ preferable to the Hawkeye tee-shirt, I can tell you that for sure," Tony said before he tapped the side of his dark glasses and then took them off, turning them over in his hands as he showed them to her. "It's got a built in facial recognition system." He tipped his chin up to the mirror. "Your sunglasses reduced the likelihood to only sixty percent but hey. I figured it was worth a closer look."

"So you cheated," K said, picking up her glass again.

"Just … a little, tiny bit. But - it was a reasonable cheat. You  _are_ disguised."

"I'm  _not_ disguised, Mr. Stark," she argued.

Tony tipped his head to the side, then leaned back to give her a better once over - while she knew he was doing it. "Then that's the best news I've heard in weeks."

K was still in a mood from dealing with Jean and Scott, so she still wasn't entirely sure if he was screwing with her. "So what? The X-Men send you to pick me up, or -"

"What?  _No_. I don't answer to them, you know that," he said, almost scoffing as he took the glass from the barkeep. "Not that it's relevant, but I was in Atlanta on business, decided to take the weekend away from the group. It's a little crowded in that place in Westchester."

"I'm sure," she said, then picked her glass up to finish it, then pushed away from the bar. "Well … if that's all …"

"Hold on, wait," he said, taking her wrist. "I am  _not_ going to try to take you in again. At all."

She paused and relaxed back into her seat. "Why not? Isn't that what you're supposed to do, hero?"

"Sweetheart, if you wanna play games with handcuffs, I'm all for it, but nothing that'll end with you in a jail cell," Tony said, holding his hands up. K smirked at him as he got a more troublemaking expression on his face. "Especially when you're so good at being my hero."

"I am a lot of things, Mr. Stark, but I don't think a hero is one of them."

"Then you're clearly ignoring the bulk of the data." He waved the bartender over and ordered another round, pausing and watching K to see if she'd allow him to buy her a drink.

"Yeah, okay, I'll hear you out," she said, which only got a grin from him as he leaned closer.

"You saved my life when you gave Cap that alien compound for my armor."

"That-"

"Wasn't anything that anyone else in that group would have done - including ex-Avengers that know me. Wanda and Pietro … they didn't speak up.  _You_ did."

"Erik forced me to fight Cap," she said quietly. "And he made me take the hit. Just … think of it as payback."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure Cap got the message that you  _still_ haven't gone out of your way to hurt him when you danced around him feelin' him up for the key to those cuffs."

"I did  _not_ feel him up," K laughed.

Tony shrugged, tipping his head as he raised his glass to his lips. "You … really kinda did."

"I did  _not,_ " she said with a smile, then shook her head as she picked up her martini. "What? You jealous?"

"Little bit." He smirked crookedly. "And if  _saving the life_ of a simple billionaire human wasn't enough to prove your good intentions, you risked your own freedom to sneak into the tower and save  _all_ of the Avengers, yours truly included -"

"It was just the right thing-"

"And -  _all of my employees in the building_ ," Tony emphasized. "That's not something a bad guy does. Especially when most of those employees are humans and you're known for working with a known human hater." She shook her head at that as he gently took her hand. "I owe you. Big time."

"No you don't," she argued, though her tone was much quieter.

"Yeah, that's not making your argument of 'not hero' any better. Self sacrificing … doesn't want the credit…" He let his voice drop quieter. "Not to mention all the kids you've been going out on a limb for."

She wasn't smiling at all by that time, and Tony was smart enough to see that something was terribly off. "Come on. Let me take you to dinner."

K shook her head lightly. "Can't do it. You're too … visible. One picture gets back to Erik -"

"Right. Gotta keep it on the down low," Tony said, his eyes narrowed for a moment as he tapped his fingers in an impatient rhythm on the bar. "Okay. No problem. Come on. I'll still treat you to dinner. We can spend some time - out of the public eye, guaranteed."

"How does that work?" she asked, picking up her drink and not meeting his gaze, so she missed his little smirk when it resurfaced.

"We can always go back to my place." He tipped his head toward the door. "Come on. I'll get a chef in. Just you and me. It'll be private. No press."

She stared at her glass for a long time and then turned to see him smirking quietly as he waited. "And this isn't some sneaky means to get me where your friends are waiting to lock me up?"

"Come on, honey. Why would I do that?"

She thought it over for a long while, but even a glance his way at all of his positivity and confidence had her smirking lightly - which was more than she could say for the last few weeks. "Is this some elaborate plan to get in my pants then?" K asked with one eyebrow arched.

"Technically, you're not wearing any pants," he said, still smirking. "But that's one of those things I don't plan to close the door on."

She tapped her fingers on her half full martini glass, biting her bottom lip as she thought it over. It had been a long time since she'd had someone that was up for some honest fun with her … "Alright," she said before she finished up her drink. "Lead the way."

Tony smiled at her and then directed her to his car - down the block with darkened windows, and as soon as they were both in the car - he zipped off with her, smiling to himself the whole way.

It had been a decent drive to get there, but even that was relaxing when she was so used to people she didn't even  _like_ in charge of her. His house was, of course, sprawling and modern, completely isolated from any neighbors not only by distance, but by the trees and tall fences that surrounded the property. By the time they stepped into the oceanside estate, she could hear the sounds of someone working away in the kitchen. "Is someone else here?" she asked, frowning to herself.

"I did say I was calling a chef - just so happens that I had him booked anyhow," Tony said, smirking, then he paused. "He may have half expected me to come back with a friend."

"Is that what I am? A friend?" K asked.

"God, I hope not. I'd like to be more than just friends."

"At least you're being direct," she said in a sigh, but that had Tony pulling her over to face him.

"Hey. If this is just dinner - that's fine with me. I'll enjoy it. But … if it moves beyond that, then I'll just get a chance to thank you  _properly_." He tipped his chin up. "And … I have a really wicked scar that you promised you'd kiss…" He rested his hand over where the scar was - and she knew, just below the edge of his ribs on the left side.

She smiled at that, which only seemed to spur him on, and in short order, he had a drink in her hand, and had swept her over to a cushy couch where he actually  _didn't_ try to lay on the charm right away, and instead spent a long while talking with her about herself and what had been going on since the evacuation of the tower.

By the time they'd made it through dinner, she was finally relaxing, and by the time they'd gone through a few more drinks, Tony  _did_ start in with the charm. All in all, she was feeling pretty damn good. In spite of what Vrykolakas had said, this … didn't feel like a one way street. He hadn't lied to her, and he was genuinely  _fun_ to be with, and even more fun to flirt with _._

They weren't doing anything yet but sharing a drink, but it wasn't long into it that she decided to roll with it, but even at that, it took some time and a lot of genuine grins and increasingly familiar and more intimate kisses paired with heavy petting. Before she knew it, K was  _almost_ believing what he had said about the good she'd done. Not to mention she knew when someone was pushing for their own gratification, and this surprisingly, was not that. She believed in her assessment of him enough that she simply went along with him when he picked her up to take her to his bedroom.

* * *

The whole weekend slipped away quickly for both K and Tony, though they didn't leave his house after they got there. They were getting plenty of time to get a lot more familiar with each other. Which meant that when Monday morning rolled around, they'd both been so distracted by how much fun their little tryst had been that neither of them had paid much attention to something small and meaningless like … time.

They'd been up and fooling around almost to dawn before they'd finally passed out, both of them in great moods as he wrapped himself halfway around her and in turn, she had shimmied closer and rested her head on his shoulder, her hand resting just over the glowing blue device in his chest. She'd really only been asleep for a few hours like that when she startled as the front door slammed closed and a second later, someone called out to him.

The first thing K did, even before trying to wake up Tony was to yank the covers up and  _hide._ Which, actually did a fine job of waking him up. "What are you …"

"Tony!" Jan called out from the hall. "I need an opinion."

"Sure thing, Jan, what's the story?" Tony called back as K swore under her breath and slid down a little further - which … was highly amusing to him.

"Careful now with what you do, we have company," Tony teased whisper quiet, though K really only had time to pinch him before Jan was close enough to have heard her.

Jan didn't seem to mind coming up to see Tony and she simply strolled right in - until she saw that there was someone under the covers with him. And then she let out a shrill sort of sound and spun around with one hand over her eyes. " _Hang a sock or something!_ "

"I thought the fact that it was my  _house_ was enough!" Tony called out. "Seriously. What's so important. We're not going anywhere."

"Tony, it's, like, the middle of a Monday," Jan said. "I was  _going_ to ask for your input on some modifications to the suit and some protective wings - you know what, I can't - just - why are you  _like_ this?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Tony said. "What's the problem?"

Jan shook her head. "I'll leave the blueprints," she said. "And seriously? Next time?  _Hang a sock_. You may be okay with showing off but I  _don't want to know some things about you!_ "

He tipped his head to the side and pursed his lips. "Well … if you  _did_ want to know, I'm pretty sure there's video of that somewhere on the internet." Which honestly had K chuckling to herself, and Tony gave her a one armed squeeze for it, too.

"Oh my god, Tony," Jan said, slowly shaking her head up at the ceiling. "I'll see you  _later_. When you're  _clothed_. And minus whoever is under there." She paused and peeked over her shoulder. "Which - for the record? Lady, you can do so much better." She stuck her tongue out at Tony and then positively cackled before she flounced away, leaving Tony shaking his head as the bedroom door slammed shut.

"I feel like I'm back in college," Tony said as K growled quietly then nipped at the scar under his rib cage, which got a little 'ow' and a start.

"I thought your team wasn't here," K said as she emerged from the covers to find Tony wearing a wide grin.

"They weren't. I thought you weren't afraid of them."

"I'm not, but I also want to keep this  _quiet_ , remember?"

"What fun is that?" Tony asked, smiling crookedly as he pushed her over to kiss her into the pillows again, considering that he knew no one was going to bother them."


	21. Long Overdue

The Guthrie kids didn't take hardly any time at all settling in when they got to Westchester. Jean had already peeked to see what their story was as far as how the Assassin's Guild had gotten them in the first place, and as they'd told K in Savannah, Remy was on it already - and his preliminary reports weren't very good.

It appeared as though the Guthries neighbors had gotten fed up with the family's peaceful outlook - and their cheerful reassurance to friends and neighbors that 'God didn't make mistakes' in reference to mutants in the current climate had half the town or better up in arms.

They'd sent a rookie apprentice to do the job. And the man had come back with the three kids in tow with no explanation as to why. They had considered turning the kids into assassins, but Sam had blocked them from stepping near his siblings and had quoted the commandments whenever they tried to find a way to get them to join the guild. He had apparently seen his parents fate - and he wasn't happy about it.

A few dozen times of 'Thou shalt not kill' shouted at them by a pair of preschoolers- not to mention six defecting guild members - had them rethinking the indoctrination idea. But in the meantime, they had tested all three kids - and all three had turned up positive for the X-gene. Only time would tell if it was active, but that was enough for them to decide to try and win Magneto's favor. They had no way of knowing that K would turn the kids over to Xavier instead.

But more important to the immediate matters at Xavier's … the tables had turned on Peter and Kurt.

At first, both Peter and Kurt had been tickled to get another boy to play with, but the first time that they tried to keep Kitty out of the loop, Sam had immediately stood up for her - and then taken it a step further to keep her close to himself and his sister. He had even gone so far as to  _block_ the two troublemaking wall crawlers from getting too close to her to pick on her again.

"If you can't treat her nice, you don't get to be around 'er," Sam had said with his arms crossed. Which, was exactly the right thing to draw Clint's attention.

"Hey bud. You wanna go shoot some arrows?" Clint said - which was something else, considering that the X-Men hadn't quite gotten used to having small kids around when the whole of the Avengers moved in - and immediately started helping in any way they could. Jan had started helping in a few classes, and when Tony was around, he was amazingly good at teaching computer sciences and electronics.

But Clint was a clear rock star when it came to the kids. He was willing to let them tackle him, and he wasn't above getting down to their level. Charles was openly impressed - and wasn't afraid to let him know how much he appreciated someone that was such a natural with the kids.

Of course, Clint had no idea how to really process that other than to blush at the tips of his ears before he awkwardly shrugged and found himself outside with Sam - setting up targets.

Aside from that, the Guthrie kids were  _more_ than happy to play with anyone, but in particular, the loved to play with Kitty. She was kind and open to games, and not only did Paige happily dance around the studio with her in their tutus, but Sam was the  _best_ big brother imaginable - and joined them to help them dance - though his lifts were more hugs that spun them around.

Not that either girl was complaining. Though it was Jean that caught the particular shade of red that Kitty's ears turned just after Sam gave her a 'lift'. And how quickly she rushed off giggling madly. Paige didn't seem to notice, and if Sam saw it, he didn't realize what was going on. The two little girls were giggling hard as they ran around in circles - all the way up until Natasha stepped into the room and cleared her throat. All at once, the two little girls straightened right up.

Kitty rushed to get her curls out of her face and Paige was pulling at her tutu in an effort to make it more fluffy after hours of play. Natasha walked behind the girls, though she gave Jean an amused sort of smile before she took up a position between them and quietly started their lesson - dancing along with them with the two little girls trying hard to emulate her.

Jean watched as the little girls studiously copied Natasha then let Sam take her by the hand as she and Josh on her hip.

They very nearly bumped into Peter and Kurt as they left the room - both of them peeking in through the window with a little frown. "Boys, you know she'll allow you back in if you can behave," Jean said, but that really only had the two of them scattering.

"It's okay, Miss Grey," Sam said. "I was gonna go shoot with Mr. Hawkeye anyhow."

She couldn't help but smirk at that and with a grin, Sam turned and headed down the hallway to find Clint.

* * *

When K finally left Tony's place, both of them were in much better spirits, and he'd made sure not to do his usual and call a driver, instead taking her to her hotel himself.

"I'm not even going to hide the fact that I really want to do this again," Tony said.

"It was a good weekend," she agreed before he leaned over for a careful goodbye kiss.

"Still owe you," he said before she opened her door and got out, shaking her head at him. He didn't drive off right away like she had expected him to do, and it wasn't until she was safely in the building that he pulled away from the curb.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you might be carrying a torch, Mr. Stark," K muttered to herself as she passed the front desk by on her way to the elevator. It  _was_ a good way to spend the weekend, if nothing else. The concierge handed her a small stack of messages - everything she'd missed over the weekend from Erik which really hadn't amounted to much. A few requests to look into some mystery mutants when she was done with her holiday - all of which would prolong her time stateside and give her more time to herself. So it wasn't anything that had her too irritated. Especially when one of the pings would bring her closer to her own home turf. Not that Erik knew that, of course.

She sorted through them and mapped out the coordinates before she made a few calls - and two hours later, she was in a fresh set of clothes and in a convertible headed to that compound in Kentucky  _first_.

Erik had given her what she needed to fly, but the truth was, she'd rather enjoy the ride - at least for as short of a trip as this was. So instead of flashing a medical pass to airport security, she elected to drive through the winding country roads all through the blue ridge mountains. There were faster routes but … the view was worth the time and being closer to the wild would help her in her endeavor anyhow.

She took a hiker's cabin as close to the site as she could get to the camp in Kentucky. The intel that Magneto and his group had showed that the camp was still fully operational - not that she was surprised by that. But neither the X-Men nor the Avengers had gotten around to  _doing_ anything about it, and it was high time that someone did.

There were several hikers on the trail even for as late as K had shown up, and she wasn't exactly happy to see it, either. This was one of the lesser known camping spots, It  _should_ have had less people around, but now she was going to have to be sneakier to make sure no one saw her go off trail.

She grumbled to herself, but kept a pleasant expression when she passed other hikers. Her change of clothes was in her backpack, but she still didn't need anyone to follow her. She found a resting point near the trail and waited until she was sure no one was around before she slipped off the trail and started down the mountain to where the facility was tucked away - close enough to a population to keep them supplied with rations and guards, but far enough out that no one knew where to look for it. She changed on her way - simply dropping the clothes she'd been wearing near an oak tree that had clearly been hit by lightning - the black bodysuit and head cover would do the trick not only to hide her identity - but the charcoal lining in it would cover her scent, too.

It was just before the shift change when she got there, and she was counting on weary and bored guards that were just ready to go  _home_ being a bit sloppy. They always were after being around for sunset, in her experience.

Infiltration was simple enough. At least as far as a place like that was concerned. It was a step above a high-security prison, fortified not only with high walls and electric fences, but motion detectors tied to automatic targeting turrets and chemical weapons. Nothing said 'stay here or die' like automated death sentences - especially when one of the deterrents violated the biological weapons convention, too.

K was sure as she carefully followed the paths that the guards took that the weapons being implemented were acting as a deterrent to the 'good guys' not moving forward on this place. That, or SHIELD shut them down on it. Neither would have surprised her.

The opportunities for entry were few, far between, and well guarded - and yet, the most likely point of entry that K had found … was the most visible from the spot on the side of the mountain she'd done her final observations from. It was well lit - and there was a regular guard cross over, but it was also the only door that she'd seen that  _didn't_ have a passcard for entry. Which, in her experience, meant that they used the door often enough that it would have slowed down their rounds. And their  _actual_ check ins - that had to be staged inside as the only solid point that would protect the main records of their check ins during inclement weather and unexpected power outages.

But that meant inside would be nasty once she was through the door.

She timed it perfectly - and once she was inside and the guard had done his mandatory check in not twenty yards in front of her, she hit the button on the little EMP that she brought with her. She knew it wouldn't do anything for the check in - but the rest of the hall? The main camera system for that quadrant?

Blacked out - as well as the red emergency work lights. She got through the first set of doors before the guards began looking for what the trouble was, which meant she was on a timer before they got the system rebooted. Not fearing any communications in that sector, she went ahead and knocked out whatever guards were in her way as she rushed for the control room. It was situated on an outside wall near the feeds from the underground power supply - which were insanely well insulated, which meant that even if she'd been nearer, the EMP would have had no affect on the power for the whole place.

So, instead of fighting with the power - and worrying that a whole-system power failure would  _trigger_ the gas canisters - K went to work in the very tight quarters in the control room next to the power supply that held the servers for the facility. Once she was inside, she was quick to lock the doors, both with the manual locks and the bar that dropped down to keep the doors from being forced open. She even put a few short wedges under the door to be doubly sure that no one was going to get in until she was done hacking into their system.

The automated systems needed to be shut off, yes - but that wasn't the only things that needed to be done. The personal information of every single mutant in their system was at risk and needed to be backed up and then promptly deleted, and beyond that … there was one other task that needed to be done before she could leave.

The collars that every prisoner in the place wore was powered through a Wardenclyffe tower that kept the collars powered. The process kept them from needing to change out batteries on the collars and from worrying about any chance that the controls on the mutants would weaken - giving one of them a chance to make a break for it.

But because of that, it was incredibly easy for the guards and wardens running the place to correct behavior through the computer system, deliver sedative medication in extreme cases, or in rare cases … remotely opening them - thus turning them off.

Of course, without the proper identification going into the system, it was incredibly hard to get to the right screens that would let K deal with the collars.

So she did what she thought was best and handled the defenses first - the gasses and turrets … even the electric fence.

There was a banging at the door that had K looking over her shoulder once the defenses were down, but for as thick as the door was, even if they started to fire at it, they didn't have a way to get in for how well it was barricaded.

She licked her lips and kept going - elbows resting on the raised counter where the computer was as she leaned forward and focused on turning off the collars. One at a time wouldn't do it - not with angry and scared guards that had records of being trigger happy positioned at the most delicate cell blocks. And not with some of the nastier coding she found hidden in a single line of code.

K swore openly when she saw it - a kill code that could sweep through the facility if it wasn't acknowledged and turned off before the collars were opened. Which just insured that K was not going to go one block at a time and worry about some sadistic guard killing a whole cell block. Not if she could get it lined up ahead of time and pop them all open at once. But that was going to be difficult.

The droning hum of electricity overhead and underfoot actually helped to tune out the shouting guards banging at the door and ordering whoever was in there to throw the main switch - which she knew would kill the whole facility by overloading the Wardenclyffe to dangerous levels. So K focused on the hum instead of the finer details and simply got to work.

She was reasonably sure at this point that she would be captured if the released mutants didn't kill the guards to clear her path - but that wasn't overly concerning at the moment. Not when she was still downloading the entire database to protect their identities - a real record of how many mutants had already gone through the facility and where they could be found  _now_ if they weren't still in the population.

She  _hadn't_ told Erik that she was going to look for that information. That … she wasn't going to let him use that to recruit. Having gone through the grateful at first from a prison break herself, she didn't want anyone else having to deal with that kind of misplaced loyalty. K was totally wrapped up in her work, fully focused as her fingers danced across the keyboard - all the way up until the outer wall of the room she was in simply gave way in an explosion of red light.

K ducked down out of instinct and covered the back of her neck as bits of wall and ceiling tumbled down - though the bulk of the debris was nearer the far wall than it was her. She was still partially protected by an entire bank of servers that were the entire height of the room.

She was crouched down, one hand on the edge of the counter and still coughing from the dust in the air when someone stepped around the bank of servers and headed for the computer K had just been using - then paused when he saw that someone was there already.

Scott's hand went to his visor. "How do you turn off the collars? Talk fast."

"What the hell do you think I'm doing?" she said, coughing for a moment longer before she huffed and went back to it. "Why the hell did you take so long to deal with this place?"

"It took us this long to figure out a way for Hank to counter the chemical weapons in case they were used."

"They're off," she said. "I took them offline - and the automated turrets too. The collars … are a little more tricky than I realized though." K had tried to ignore him in favor of going back to work, but it was a little distracting with him standing there - staring at her. "Do you mind?"

"Are you the only one he sent in?"

"Saying he sent me in might be a little bit of a stretch. He didn't know all the details of this place," she said. A window popped up on the screen and K turned her head for just a second before she snatched the thumb drive out of the computer - then went back to work. "Yes, I'm the only one here. The idea was to let them out and let the prisoners deal with it as they saw fit."

Scott nodded as he watched K work, then frowned toward the door, where there were definitely soldiers stil trying to get in. "The team's dealing with the guards in the rest of the place, but Captain America did a little digging - there are protocols in place to kill everyone here if we can't find a way to turn them off." He paused. "That's also why we waited."

K nodded. "I'm disarming that - it's one line of code buried in the background. It requires a switch to 'N' or it's an automatic 'Y'." She glanced up at him for a second and side stepped slightly. "Then I'm going to have all the collars open at once."

"Good. My team can get them out as soon as that happens," he said.

She kept working - a little faster than before, but with the wall open like it was, it was a lot easier to get distracted by the sounds of the fight outside. "Do you have something to do other than just … stare at me?"

"I'm not -" Scott shook his head. "If they get in here, this place is their best bet to make every mutant here pay for our incursion. I'm sure you can turn the collars off, but on the off chance someone gets in here before that happens, I'm going to make sure you're focused on the code and not the guards. Okay?"

She frowned a little at him and tipped her head, again moving a little further away. "Fine."

Halfway through the next block of code, her comm started to go off, and rather than answer it, she took it off her hip, slammed it on the counter and sent a claw through it, muttering under her breath about idiots with crap timing as she tried to keep rolling. She figured that it was going to come back to bite her, but at the same time, she  _was_ preoccupied and really didn't have time to talk. "Alright … I got it," she said, mostly to herself - but loud enough for Scott to catch it. She was still typing fast, all the way up until the very last keystroke - and that was a hard strike.

"You're going to want to vaporize those banks," K said, gesturing to the servers. "They still have all the data on everyone they've processed through this facility, and I doubt when the power implodes that it'll wipe everything out."

"Got it," Scott said, then frowned her way. "K, I'm not going to shoot you too."

"Sure," she said.

"I'm just saying; we're on the same side here so you can stop acting like I'll turn on you as soon as the banks go up," Scott said.

She paused and frowned a little deeper at him. "Weren't you the one saying you were tired of all the exceptions to the rules?" She gestured to him. "You're the one that follows the rules. I'm the one that bends them. That's kind of the way it's been."

"My rules don't include attacking someone who's helping me free mutants from a camp, K. I'm not some blind disciple to a rulebook," Scott said with a little glare before he did, in fact, light up the banks. "But I'm also not going to let you hand Magneto a list of traumatized mutants he can take advantage of."

"Magneto doesn't know it exists, and he's not going to," she said before she started for the gaping hole in the wall.

Scott blasted the space just in front of her before she could get there. "You have their  _personal information_ , K, and I want to know where it's going."

"Somewhere that no one has been - not Magneto's group, not Weapon X - no one," she said. "But from what I've seen already? There are some spots you and your little group of girl scouts aren't going to want to go."

"What are you talking about?"

"Just some nastier installations," she said with a wave. "I'll make sure you get a copy if you need it, but I'm  _not_ going to let Erik or anyone in that group see it. Any of it."

"I'm not trying to pry into - I just want to be sure it's not going to get exposed. These people have been through enough," Scott said. "And to be frank, even if you say it's not going to Magneto, he's already proven he can use you against your will. You have to see why it's hard to trust you with any information - even if it's not  _you_ I'm worried about."

"He doesn't know it exists," she said patiently. "And I'm supposed to go check out another group after this. I have  _time._ " She was clearly frustrated as she started walking again. "Go ahead and shoot me if you feel better about it."

Scott frowned for a moment before he finally nodded and caught up to her. "The team's already clearing that way - if you're up for it, the rest of the guards should be down this way," he said. "Unless you just want to join the team…"

"I haven't done anything but knock a few idiots out tonight," she said. "And I'm pretty sure that team thing's never gonna be an option. But you're  _hilarious."_

Scott smirked at that and blasted an opening in the next wall. "Hey, we're on the same side in this fight. We've even teamed up with Magneto on occasion."

"I don't really want to know the finer points of your charity cases, thanks," K replied.

Scott glared for a moment. "Always nice to talk to you, K," he grumbled. "You really make me want to reach out."

"As long as you feel better when you're done scraping the bottom of the barrel," she said before she broke into a run and pulled her hood back down over her face.

Scott swore under his breath, but K had already found a fight, so there wasn't anything else to do but simply jump into the fight.

She wasn't too far ahead of him, and she wasn't using her claws at all - instead sticking to fists, elbows, and feet as she kept hitting the guards hard enough for the cracks to echo around them. But Scott didn't miss that none of her hits were fatal. Just a lot of broken jaws and noses - a few likely fractured orbital bones and cheek bones - which had she directed that kind of focus to a throat punch, she would have probably killed the guy. As soon as they breached the building and were in the open air, she made a beeline for the fence - only then popping a claw to cut through the chain link and razor ribbon - which made a disturbing springing noise. And just like that, she was a whisper in the trees. Again.


	22. Dual Purpose

The sounds of the fight had started to drop back and it wasn't long after K had disappeared that Scott redirected his efforts to where Logan and Cap were fighting together. The fight was already going in their favor and droves of skinny, malnourished ex-prisoners were making their way out of the buildings in confusion when the power supply that had been remotely charging the collars exploded in a spectacular overload that looked  _almost_ like a Tesla coil rippling electricity off of the center high point of the building.

"Was that you?" Steve called out when he saw Scott and a few of the others gathering up.

Scott shook his head. "I think it was K."

Steve straightened up a little and looked past him. "You know where she went?"

"She got past me after we wrecked the server room," Scott said, then paused. "And I think we should leave it at that."

"Scott …"

"She was there to turn off the collars. She made sure to tell me where their personal information was stored so they can't find these people again. And she blew the power just now to help us get out," Scott said. "That's more than Magneto's been willing to do for us when he's worked with us before."

Steve was already shaking his head on the way to the jet. "It doesn't change anything."

"Captain Rogers," Scott said, "with the greatest possible respect? I think you're wrong on this."

"Yeah? So tell me  _how_ I'm wrong on the way out of here," Steve said, though he didn't look very open to the idea.

Scott frowned at that and shook his head as he caught up and climbed into the jet with him. "Jean and I have been digging on K ever since she showed up with Magneto. Logan's been looking into her too, and everything we can find says he scooped her out of a place much worse than this-" He gestured at the rubble. "-and she's been working for him ever since." He tipped his head. "I think it would have been a very different story if we'd been the ones to find her."

"What? You think she's being forced into it? Wanda said her father had no idea the two of them were going anywhere  _near_ Pym when she murdered him in the street. How am I supposed to look the other way for that?"

"I'm not asking you to look the other way, but it might be time to consider everything else she's done when she hasn't been under orders. The kids, for one thing. And the fact that she warned you about the attack on the tower," Scott said.

"And she gave you that stuff for Stark," Logan added.

Scott nodded. "And you know she wasn't in control when she fought you."

"Yeah I figured that out," Steve said in a breath.

"She stays on the outskirts of the big fights," Scott said. "There's a bigger picture here that we're not seeing and to be honest, as bad as what happened with Pym was, I think it's worth asking Janet just how much weight we should be giving that compared to everything else." He shook his head. "I've got Sam following me around when Clint's not available singing her  _praises_ on what a good 'babysitter' she was, not to mention the rest of the kids. Charles and Jean have been working with Jan - and I honestly think she's not as upset about what happened as you and I have been."

Steve let out a breath and looked over first to Logan, who refused to do anything but hold his gaze, then to Jean, who looked just as hopeful as Scott.

"I'm not saying look the other way," Scott said. "I'm saying it's not like this would be the first time we've reached out to pull someone from the other side.  _Both_ of our teams have."

Steve looked slightly deflated as he tipped his head. "We can talk to Jan when we get back." He didn't say another word until they were in the jet. "Even if Jan agrees, do you think this woman would even  _listen_ to you?"

Scott let out a breath and leaned back. "I don't know," he admitted. "I do know that as things stand, she's honestly scared of me, so no - probably not. But if we work at it…"

Steve raised his eyebrows at that. "What did you do to get her scared? She was dancing around me with her hands together."

"All I know is she couldn't be in the same room as me -  _working together_ \- without keeping distance," Scott said.

"She doesn't trust you then," Steve said. "Do we have anyone on our side that'd be good for that?"

"Normally, I'd ask Jean," Scott admitted. "But K does seem to have a soft spot for you and the Avengers, considering she warned you several times."

"I highly doubt she'd listen," Steve replied flatly. "But you can make your case to the group."

Scott let his shoulders drop. "Alright."

When the group returned - and got themselves cleaned up and ready to fill in the rest of the group, Steve waited for Scott then openly gestured for him to make his case. The whole of the X-Men were interspersed with the Avengers - though the most notable addition from earlier in the evening was the fact that Tony had finally wandered in from wherever he'd been 'on business'. Scott nodded slowly and then very evenly said more or less what he'd told Steve, though he tipped his head Jan's way.

"If you say you can't work with her, I'll drop it," he said. "But Hank was your husband; your opinion should carry a little more weight than everyone else in this matter."

Jan thought about it for a long while, biting on her thumb nail as she rolled it over in her head. "If you're right, then this lady's gonna need a lot of help." She turned toward Jean and projected out the other part of her thoughts though.  _If all of your suspicions are true? That might explain why she lost her temper so badly, not that I'm happy about it … but you know. If you look at it from people sensitive to abuses … Charles said they try to compensate by guarding others. If she's there against her will - even if we don't get her_ with us _, she needs help._

 _We wouldn't try to use her. You're right; I think she needs help,_ Jean projected back to her.  _And that's sort of what we're supposed to do - help mutants in distress._

 _At this point,_ Jan projected back,  _I think it's help anyone in distress._

 _Well, yes,_ Jean said.  _That's just how it started. But maybe we should add 'and take in adorable babies and kids that follow Logan around like a flock'._

Jan didn't even try to hide the giggle.  _I had no idea he was such a great mother duck._

Jean grinned.  _It's so fun to watch him work with Kitty - though you should see Scott with Peter, too._

_Oh, I have. And Clint with Sam. And little Paige has been my shadow … not to mention you and that sweet little Josh …_

_And K brought us every single one of them,_ Jean said, floating over the fact that Josh had absolutely favored her over the others easily.  _That's hard to ignore._

 _It really is,_  Jan admitted, biting her lip.  _Tony is counting everyone in the tower in her favor, too, you know._ She tipped her head to where Tony was sitting with his feet kicked up on the chair next to him, watching the conversations go back and forth.  _Of course, he's late from his 'business trip'._

 _Like you have to be a telepath to know that's_ not  _what he was doing._

 _No. But I walked in - and he didn't_ warn me  _that he had company._

Jean winced in sympathy.  _And you were coming along so well in therapy._

 _I know. Total setback!_ She grinned and turned Jean's way.  _You can totally help me recover though. Just make sure you knock really loud and call for him to make sure he's alone when you walk in the room where you know he is. That's what I started doing already._

Jean grinned.  _I think I may have to._

Jan managed to get her giggles under control when she realized that both Tony and Steve were looking at her. She cleared her throat and tipped her chin up. "I think … if you can talk her into it, we should  _try_ to offer her a way out."

"Alright then," Scott said with a nod. "Anyone gets the chance to talk to her… let's try to make this work."

"Is there a deadline on this, big guy?" Tony asked, propping up his head with one arm.

"Preferably before she gets herself killed going out of her way to help us," Scott said.

"On it," he said, already turning to get up and leave the room. "I'll see if I can nail down her comm."

"That's not going to work too well," Scott warned. "She wrecked it when she was shutting down the collars."

Tony paused and frowned at that, looking almost irritated over that. "That would make it harder to do, then. But … I might be able to finagle something anyhow."

"More proof for your theory, Hawkeye?" Jan asked with a little giggle.

Clint gave Jan a lazy grin. "Hey, if it was just my theory then I'd be smug, but Nat agrees, so now it's just law."

"It's an active hypothesis," Hank argued. "More testing is required."

"Awww, don't encourage him, Hank," Clint said.

Hank chuckled and gestured at Tony, who had stopped near the door and folded his arms over his chest. "But he's so anxious to get started on the hunt."

"He's smitten with danger," Clint said. "I mean, I relate, but come on."

"Seems to me she saved your butt last time too," Tony said.

"Shirt was nice," Clint said with a smirk.

"Worst part of that disguise," Tony said, shaking his head, though even Steve was smirking now.

"She's got a light touch when she wants to, Tony," Steve said, not entirely unable to keep from laughing, though Tony wasn't rising to the bait.

"Right. Well," Tony said, clapping his hands together. "I'm going to get to  _work._ " He shook his head on the way out, almost jumping back when he opened the door to find both Peter and Kurt trying to eavesdrop. And instead of running, both of them took just a moment to peek inside at the gathered adults - and smile as widely as they could. Peter looked half scared at being caught, but Kurt was grinning widely as he waved with the end of his tail.

"Boys …" Natasha said.

"Nothing!" Peter half shouted as Kurt continued his grin. "We didn't hear anything!"

" _Hallo!_ " Kurt called out cheerfully, walking into the room while Peter immediately face palmed and tried to hide.

Which would have been easier if Jean didn't catch him and float him over so both boys were in the room. "You know better than to eavesdrop," she said.

"We weren't!" Peter said, wide eyed as Kurt tipped up his chin and kept a smirk in place.

"So what do you think about our plan?" Scott asked Peter, one eyebrow raised over his glasses as he caught him. "Do you think it'll work?"

"Yes!" Peter said, then quickly caught himself. "I mean … can … we … have some ice cream? That's … that's what we were looking for. Ice cream."

Logan had one hand covering half of his face as he met Jean's gaze and simply very slowly shook his head over the whole fiasco.

Jean shook her head, though she couldn't stop her smile either. "If you want ice cream, then you have to share with the other kids," she said.

Peter let his whole body droop. "But …  _Kitty doesn't want to do anything but play with Sam._ "

"She can eat ice cream with Sam too - if you invite them both," Jean pointed out.

He looked as if he'd been betrayed before he let his head loll as far back as it would go. "Fi-i-i-ine."

Kurt didn't wait to hear what Jean had to say, and instead made his way over to lean against Logan's chair in an obvious attempt to 'blend in'. "You're not stickin' around for our meeting," Logan said flatly as he turned Kurt's way.

Kurt frowned and did his best to look completely insulted. " _Lacherlich!_ I was just keeping Peter company while he spied." he looked over toward Peter and Jean. "And I don't mind Kitty spending time with Sam either."

"I think that means you get to take them upstairs," Jan sang out to Logan. He let out a breath and got to his feet when it was clear no one was arguing it in the least. He barely got three steps from Kurt before the little blue troublemaker caught up and climbed right up his back - though Peter certainly wasn't going to try that.

"Alright," Steve said when they were gone. "Then we're in agreement, right? Anyone that gets a chance to talk to her - offer her a way out."

But at that, Tony raised one finger and stepped back toward the group. "Only there is one problem with that," he said. "When I got a hold of her in Chicago, Magneto yanked her back. I don't know if she  _can_ leave. Not permanently anyhow."

"He could do that to Logan too," Scott pointed out. "But he doesn't."

"Yeah, well he doesn't  _have_ Logan. And he didn't … hijack him or whatever you want to call it like you're saying he did with her." Tony made it back to the table. "She got into my lab. That's … that could be a problem, and that would be someone I'd want to hang onto if you know … I was a megalomaniac intent on being the guy with the floatiest cape."

"He has a point," Clint said. "If I had metal bones, I wouldn't be too fast to sign up to betray the master of magnetism."

.

"Yeah, but Tony worked around that," Steve said, more to Scott than his own teammates before he turned to Tony. "You said that worked. Can you make it more permanent?"

"Ah - against a guy who works off the Earth's magnetic field? No," Tony said. "Temporary fix, sure, but … not long term."

"Then work on something more permanent," Scott said. "I don't like the idea that we can't even give someone an  _option_ if they want out."

"Like I said … I got it to work as a  _temporary_ fix," Tony replied. "You'd have to shut him down to stop him." He blew out a breath then snapped his fingers in a quick rhythm, set each fist in the opposite palm one after the other, then entwined his fingers for just a moment. "I'll see what I can do."

* * *

K had been sure to run  _fast_ once she got into the woods and out of the line of sight from the X-Men. She had no idea who was there that day - the mission roster changed fluidly quickly enough on its own, and now that the Avengers were bunking with them … she just didn't want to mix the two, even if it did make her reasons for protecting them a bit easier in her head.

She made it back to her cabin before dawn - her charcoal suit badly in need of a cleaning and reactivation, but … to any hikers she passed on her way back to her cabin - it looked like she was simply a super early bird - or an idiot that got lost on the trail after dark.

She took exactly enough time to take a shower and flop onto the bed to relax for a moment. She'd been going almost non-stop since she left Savannah, and what she really needed was some fuel and rest.

But she didn't have much in her luggage that she wanted to think about eating … and she knew for a fact she couldn't have anything delivered, so the best thing she could do - all things considered - was to crash first and catch up with food later.

She'd barely moved beyond turning onto her side to face the door before she passed out, half curled into the fetal position. Which made it that much more disorienting when she was awakened by a woosh of air that was followed quickly by the scent of  _food_.

K opened her eyes, though she already knew from the light scent of bergamot, orange, and rosemary that it was Piero. "I wrecked my comm," she said, then rubbed her hand over her eyes. "Hello, by the way."

He was smirking crookedly as he set down the bag he had with him. "Yeah, I gathered. I told Father to just  _wait._ Since you were in the mission after all, but you know how antsy he gets."

"Is he over it?"

"When he saw the droves of prisoners leaving the prison, he found something else to do - like look for the next camp," Pietro said as he tipped his head, watching her move. "You need to recuperate, don't you?"

K let out a sigh and gestured to the room around them. "I was planning to leave in the morning and grab food."

"It's noon."

K paused and thought it over. "Well. Whatever. I guess I'll leave when you do."

"This should ease up when Genosha is running," he said. "New comm is in the bag, along with a few love notes from the boys." Pietro paused. "Are you continuing on, then?"

"I am," she agreed. "I don't know that the next target will be warm and welcoming, but …"

"If you need the breather, I'm sure it can either be postponed or I could handle it -."

"I'll just get coffee and move on," she said quietly before she peeked in the bag to take out the notes from the boys. Tommy had sent a drawing rather than a note - obviously not in the mood to sit and take the  _time_ to try and write. Billy had done just a little better - seeing as he had tried to make a "K", and it had turned out backward and very lopsided. Still. It was a solid effort from the little guy all the same.

"I wouldn't rule it out," Pietro said, then he paused and crossed his arms. "Did you have any trouble with the X-Men?"

"Minimal interference," K said without even thinking about it. "I was there first, more or less got away from them before they could be too much trouble."

"You know they're not at the place in Westchester anymore, don't you? Father went looking to have a word with Charles, but the house was empty."

"He can't be overly surprised by that," K said. "He's been threatening them them regularly - and they have kids to concern themselves with."

"He's not thinking about that."

"He should be considering that's most of why Wanda won't leave the space station now," K replied, to which, he had to nod his agreement. But, without much more to say, and the messages and notes passed from Avalon, Pietro had little to say or to discuss with the little feral, and in no time at all, he'd tipped his head and simply disappeared, once again leaving her alone.

K took a moment to run her hand over her face and take stock. She must have been further worn down than she thought if she'd slept through the whole morning that hard. Emma's find was in Chicago, and for a moment, K weighed out her travel options. It would certainly make the trip quicker, but … she really didn't want to be around anyone. She still hadn't made up her mind by the time she'd packed up what little gear she had and left the cabin, but … when she finally got to the car and looked around herself a little better, she knew she'd have a better shot at time alone if she flew.

Pietro had taken the stealth suit with him - which she took as a favor since she wouldn't need to use it again on this trip, and she didn't need the extra baggage.

She sat in the car all of thirty seconds before she headed for the nearest airport and within a couple hours and the time it took to get into a decent bite to eat, K was boarding first class to the Windy City.

The woman she was set to find had been taking up residence in the presidential suite at the Four Seasons - the most luxurious hotel on the Gold Coast. The details on her were sparse, but it was clear that this woman didn't need any protection from Erik or anyone else. She had enough wealth to protect her regardless of who or what she was.

But that wasn't K's concern. She was to simply talk to the woman and see if she could convince her to join up, though as she approached the desk in the lobby, she was rerouted.

"Hey gorgeous, fancy meeting you here," Tony said as he slipped his hand across her back low then simply stepped partway in front of her as he redirected her.

"Mr. Stark," K said, turning slightly to find him looking much more serious than the last time she'd seen him. "What brings you here?"

"You, honestly," he said, then paused as he gave her a little smile. "I would be more than happy to explain myself, but I'm going to have to ask that we take it somewhere else."

"Do you have a place in mind?"

"Don't I always?"

"I've only got the one encounter to really compare it to," K said, shrugging, but already Tony had her back to the door and headed toward a waiting towncar.

"Well let's change those numbers up a little," Tony said as his driver held open the door.

This … was totally different than what had happened last time, and the wide-open full daylight in open view of the press had her very nearly miss a step before Tony all but pushed her into the car. To anyone watching - that wasn't what happened, but he was too quick to try and pretend like he didn't know what he'd done.

"I know, you're trying to avoid detection, I've got it covered, I swear," Tony said before she could even ask. "I'm not letting you get caught. By anyone."

"Tony, I appreciate that you had fun, I did too, but … I'm trying to get a job done," K said. "I'm all for more time if it works out, but come on."

"Then I'm really glad I found you before you got to where you were headed," Tony said, suddenly smiling and looking very proud of himself. "You were headed to the presidential suite, right?"

K frowned slightly and nodded. "What? Your usual booking?"

Tony barked out a laugh and shook his head. "No, but i know who's in it. The Black Queen of the Hellfire Club - Selene Gallio, and honey - you don't realize it, but I just saved your life."

She laughed and rested her hand just over his knee. "I love it when you're full of yourself."

But that only had him smiling wider as he pulled out a small tablet and then handed it to her - already opened up to show all of the gathered information on the woman. "No, really. The woman is a vampire in every sense of the word but the blood sucking. She drains the life force out of people to keep herself young. And her closest female ally in the Hellfire Club -"

"Is Emma."

"Is … Emma Frost, yeah," Tony agreed. "I take it you girls don't get along?"

"She doesn't get along with anyone smarter or prettier than her," K said.

"Two for two."

K smirked at him and leaned back in her seat. "So. now what?"

"Well … I  _did_ just save you for a change."

"Do you want me to play the fawning, grateful damsel?" K asked, batting her eyelashes and striking a little pose for effect.

"Maybe for a minute …"

"Tell you what," K said, leaning closer. "Tell me how you knew where to look for me, and maybe I'll play along."

Tony smirked and put his arm around her shoulders as she cozied up and even kicked it off by landing little kisses along his jaw "I've been working on a way to keep Magneto from just … yanking you back," he admitted. "But it's not real easy considering he draws his abilities from the earth itself."

"I'm sure you have much more noble things to look into than how best to chase  _my_ ass," K said, which got a little laugh out of him.

"Call it a dual purpose," he said.

"Slap and tickle aren't actually two different objectives, Mr. Stark."

He broke out laughing at that and leaned in to push her back into her seat with a kiss. "I got inspired." When she simply raised an eyebrow in question, he continued. "Magneto found you by looking for adamantium, right? Well … it does have a specific molecular structure - and it's pretty darn rare…"

"You made a gadget to find the metal."

"... I made a gadget to find the metal."

K smiled crookedly and rested one hand on his shoulder. "Just to find me or was this revenge for losing at hide and seek with Wolverine?"

Tony stopped cold and gawked for an instant before he broke out laughing. "I am not now nor have I ever had the desire to play hide and seek with Wolverine."

"So you're a stalker?"

"How did this go from a grateful … thing to now I'm your stalker?"

K put her hand on his wrist - stopping some, but not all of his forward motion. "What are we doing? Really."

"Hopefully having another fun weekend."

"You're not a repeater," K said. "I knew that going in. This isn't your normal - anything. So really, what's up?"

"Okay, first of all, your intel is wrong," Tony said, straightening up. "I do, from time to time find a girl and focus my efforts on her, so unless this is your way of turning me down -"

"What are you after, Mr. Stark?"

"I want to get you away from Magneto," he said. "Bring you onto the good side and the Avengers and the X-Men aren't … they know you've been doing a lot of good. They don't want to drag you through the mud over a poor choice in rescuer and one slip."

She frowned at that and shook her head. "Shut up," she said, sounding frustrated already.

"I'm serious."

K let out a weary sigh. "Okay then I'll give you a choice. You can keep talking shop about the Avengers, or you can shut up, drop your pants and have a little fun with me."

"Can we revisit this discussion later?"

She started to push him back and he held up his hands. "Shutting up for now. No more shop." He grinned at her. "Can't blame a guy for trying. Who  _wouldn't_ want you around more?"

"You're going to make me talk about this, aren't you?"

Tony held up both hands again, miming that his lips were sealed as instead of getting to the point to tell her what was discussed, he opted for the more fun version of the evening.


	23. Tony Can Be Sneaky Too

Tony woke up to the sound of keys tapping on his laptop, and it only took a moment longer for him to wake up enough to turn over and then frown when he saw that K was awake with a cup of coffee at her side and a flashdrive in between her fingers like a cigarette as she worked. That … that was  _more_ than enough to get him sitting up and even reaching for the laptop to get it away from her and cursing. "What the hell are you doing?" he blurted out, though she shifted and turned her back to him to keep the computer away.

"If I was going to steal your work, don't you think I'd do it when I knew you weren't around? Not … bring the computer to bed so I can work?" she challenged. "I would have asked but you were so peaceful … I didn't want to interrupt."

"What's with the drive then?" he asked looking positively furious for a moment before she relaxed and handed it to him as a show of trust.

"It's all the data on the servers from that camp in Kentucky," she said as she tipped the computer so he could see it. "This is the first that I've been around a computer since then and I'm not going to miss the chance to see what the alternate locations are." She rested her hand on his knee. "I am not going to give or  _sell_ any of your secrets, Tony. I'm not even looking for them. I thought you'd figured that out. I'm not like the spies. I wasn't sent here to get in your pants, remember?"

Tony let out a breath as he weighed it out. He knew that much was true. She wasn't supposed to be anywhere near him. And as far as the drive in his hand … Cyclops had been very clear that she wasn't going to give  _him_ the intel, but he didn't know  _why_ she was being like that with him. And he really didn't want to wreck the fun they'd been having, so instead of pointing out what he thought was obvious, he slipped behind her and put an arm around her waist. "I could ease your mind a little .. take it to Cyclops and let him handle it," he said as he reached out to take over the keyboard. But when she turned her head to give him a dry look he rested his chin on her shoulder and put the drive into place - once he'd double checked to see if she'd done anything other than get set up to open the drive. "If you  _have_ to talk shop though, then I'm gonna be a lot less twitchy if I handle the computer."

"I'm fine with that." K kept her hands out of his way as she leaned back slightly. "Are you sure you don't want me to just … give it back to you?"

"No, this is fine," he said with a little chuckle, though he had to laugh when she rested one hand on his wrist so she could stop his scrolling down the list. There - in black and white was the full list of the facilities that were tied in to their operation.

She straightened up and reached for the pad of paper and pen that was sitting on the bedside table … just out of her reach with Tony keeping a decent hold on her. "Ah ah ah," he said as he simply closed and then picked up the computer to set it aside with one hand and held her tight to keep her from slipping away with the other. "You were the one that said no shop talk. So if you're not going to let  _me_ talk you into going back with me, I'm not going to let  _you_ take a breather just to get your next assignment for the megalomaniac."

He managed to get the computer well out of her reach, though she didn't exactly fight him on it either. "You've made your point, but I still need that information," she said. "And I'm not getting an assignment-"

"No, you're trying to do it on your own," Tony replied. "You keep saying you're not a hero, so let the heroes handle it."

K let her shoulders drop and she slumped slightly. "You can't use that as an argument to go back to fooling around."

"I seem to recall someone telling me to shut up and drop my pants to change the subject, this is kind of the same thing." He smirked crookedly. "The only difference here is that I'm happy to talk with you about being a hero the right way  _and_ play around." K relaxed a little further and shook her head.

"Just … out of the goodness of your oh, so heroic giant heart?"

"Well sure. That … and in part because then you have to admit that I'm  _right_ , and I get to take you home with me where it's not going to get anyone murdered just because you've got  _excellent_ taste in after hours partners."

"And no one would say the same for you," she laughed. "Cavorting with a known saboteur and assassin."

"Honey, they knew that about me a long time ago."

She bit her lip and made one more half-hearted play for the computer, though that was definitely a line that Tony was drawing in the sand. "You can have it back before you go."

"I just want the locations," she argued. "You can keep the drive."

"Then you can have them before you go. But you need to make the call - either we're talking about your extensive and lengthy rehabilitation and vetting process to join the good guys- which," Tony let out a theatrical sigh, "is a burden I'm willing to bear on my own."

"Or …"

"Or, you maintain the level of debauchery that you set up yesterday."

She sucked in a quick breath between her teeth. "Tough call."

"I know." But he was smirking in an incredibly troublemaking way that made it clear which direction he'd prefer  _now_.

"Option 'B'," K said finally. "That sounds more reasonable."

"And … you know either way, you're going to need to show me what you did to break through my firewalls and password."

"But then you'll change it so I have to work harder to get in," she replied with a little smile as she let him turn her around and pin him to the spot.

"Which is half the fun, isn't it?"

"You  _like_ when I break into your tech," she accused with a little laugh before they started up the heavy flirting all over again.

* * *

When K finally got back to Avalon, it was more or less pandemonium. Genosha was finally to a point that Pietro was there running things - or at the very least overseeing as mutants from around the world began to trickle in. Of course, with humans shifting more to the 'hunted' rather than 'hunter' list, the island was more a symbolic thing than anything else- and it was a place for those to gather that didn't want to fight - or couldn't.

And the little glimmer of hope that K had that meant she'd be back on solid ground all the time was dashed almost immediately.

"We were starting to wonder if something terrible had happened," Emma said with a definite pout. But that had K glaring at her.

"I took a little time looking into your girlfriend from the Hellfire club," K said. "Awfully odd that your search for a powerful mutant came up with the  _Black Queen_ from your little sex club."

Emma visibly faltered as Erik turned her way with a glare. "You sent her after  _Selene_?" he asked Emma at nearly a hiss.

"She didn't even bother to go where she was told," Emma replied with a sniff.

"But if  _you_ were unable to turn your fellow Hellfire queen - what makes you think she would?" Erik asked, looking more and more angry with every passing word.

As Emma opened her mouth, K cut in to derail her. "It isn't that she couldn't turn her," K said. "I was supposed to be the bribe to get her here. And seeing as the woman is a psychic vampire that draws her strength and youth by consuming the life force of others …"

Emma glared at her hard and Erik looked ready to tear the White Queen to shreds himself before he began dressing her down for trying to lose his best recruiter.

But at that, K stared at him, almost tuning out what he was saying. She couldn't figure out  _how_ she was his best recruiter until she turned to look at the live feed of those that were coming in to Genosha. Many of them were younger and several had done what they could to imitate K's uniform.

She didn't even realize when Emma left until the door clanged shut behind her leaving her with Erik - watching the influx to the island nation. "It's finally coming together," he said in a much more pleased tone just before he rested a hand on her shoulder. "And once they've been settled in, Avalon will be much more quiet."

"When do we move?" K asked, turning toward him.

Erik's brow furrowed for only a moment before his entire body language shifted. "My dear girl," he said in a rich, thick tone. "There's no need for the most valuable players to be a target."

He missed the fact that K was holding her breath on hearing it. And he missed the fact that she was both horrified and  _furious_ all at once. And he kept talking … all the way up until K took a step away from him. Erik frowned as he watched her, then put on a condescending sort of smile. "Oh, come now," he said. "You don't really think it will be so simple, do you?"

"I thought that was the idea," K replied. "That it was simple - and that they'd be  _safe_."

He tutted at that and slowly shook his head. "You play the game far too well not to realize that there are always sacrifices that need to be made."

K's eyelashes fluttered as she took a step back - almost as if he'd hit her, though of course the words were enough. "You don't … you have to give them the  _choice_ ," K said breathlessly. "You … you can't use people like that. These are the most desperate - the most  _hopeful_  … and you're going to just …" She held both hands up in front of herself as she shook her head again, her eyes closed tightly. "I can't … be around you right now."

She made it all the way to the door before she felt the magnetic pull that drew her back even as she planted her feet. "Young lady," Erik said, his tone back to pure authoritarian. "You know as well as I that many, if not all of these people would perish should they choose to stay where they were before coming to Genosha."

"You plan to let them be attacked. So they can  _die_ … how does that give you any kind of higher ground?"

"By allowing a few to become martyrs, the war will be swift to end," Erik said, though his tone shifted. "Those that don't know which side of the issue to be on will side with those that were simply trying to make a safe haven. Conversely, allowing this war to drag out will only cause a greater loss of life. I want it over swiftly."

"You can't just lie to them like that," K replied. "They  _trust you_. They have faith in you enough to give up their hiding places, their old lives … they're giving up everything and you're  _condemning_ them."

His expression shifted to something more patronizing. "You're too young to understand fully, my-"

"Stuff it," K said with a growl. "You have  _no_ idea how old I am or what I've seen." She stalked toward the door again then turned around, pointing one finger at him. "And I  _remember_ what it was like before the war broke out in Europe.  _You_ were too young at the time to realize that the fear that preceded the war had gone on for  _years_.  _Don't_ talk to me like I'm a child."

Erik was taken back enough by her words that he simply didn't react quickly enough to pull her back, though he did hold the doors shut. "Where were you at the time?" He asked quietly.

K turned and held his gaze for a moment. "I lived in Paris in 1939," she said. "I left the following May."

"Just a few weeks before France fell to Germany," Erik said, his expression totally open. She tipped her head slightly, though she didn't exactly relax. "Yet at the time, you could see for yourself that leaving was the right thing to do."

"Nowhere I was going was using refugees as a sympathy target," K said coldly.

"They all did, in one way or another," Erik said, one eyebrow raised.

"Not where they were supposed to be safe," K argued, then simply stared at the door for a moment until Erik not only unlocked it magnetically, but swung the doors open for her to leave. She was still furious, but at least she didn't have to look at him when he was acting like this … as if he really did know everything.

To her relief, she wasn't interrupted by the kids - it was entirely likely that they were down for a nap - and she made her way to her suite where she quickly jumped into the shower and cleaned up.

And when she stepped out, wrapped up in a towel, she let out a breath on seeing that someone had come in "Wanda, I swear," K said in a breath as she crossed the room and started to dry her hair better.

"So I take it you're actually  _glad_ that it wasn't your friend Vrykolakas here waiting for you," Wanda said, looking relieved to hear it.

K dropped down onto her bed, and Wanda sat down facing her. "I'm not involved with him."

"Well you're obviously involved with someone," Wanda said with a smirk. "You were in a good mood until you went to talk with my father."

"I was," she said, shaking her head. "And it'll probably be a long time before I'm  _allowed_ to go back."

"Planning on meeting up with him again?" Wanda teased.

"I wasn't planning on meeting up with him the second time, but he managed to find me."

At that, Wanda frowned and sat up straight. "Wait … someone purposely found you?"

K nodded at that, and closed one eye as she waited to see how clever Wanda was when she had anything to focus on that wasn't the boys.

"Was it one of the X-Men?" she asked, leaning forward and looking as if she was ready for a slumber party.

"No, it was not," K laughed.

Wanda bit her lip and grinned crookedly. "Did you want it to be?"

"Hey now," K said, tossing the wet towel she'd been using on her hair at her. "Stop that."

"Well … they're all single, and nice guys … or girls. Whatever."

K raised an eyebrow at her and shook her head. "It's a guy. And he's  _not_ on the X-Men." She got to her feet and headed over to the dresser to find something comfy to wear.

"An Avenger then," Wanda said, grinning wider. "Which one was it?"

"What makes you think it was one of them?" K asked as she peeked around the dressing screen.

"Because they found you after the first time," Wanda said before she leaned on one arm waiting for K to return. "So … if we go by process of elimination …" She drew in a breath as she watched the swirls of red light dance on her fingertips.

"Let's not do this," K said, though her request fell on deaf ears.

"So … it can't be Clint. He's entirely hung up on Natasha," Wanda reasoned. "And Tony's not the type to go for a second date …. I think Dr. Banner is too timid for you, but Thor would be fun."

"Yes, he probably would," K agreed half under her breath as she pulled a long-sleeved shirt over her head.

"Oooh, was it  _Cap?!_ " Wanda asked from between her fingers that covered her mouth. "That … oh. It was Cap, wasn't it? Oh, I think you two would be good together … "

"It was  _not_ Cap," K said, shaking her head. "He'd have taken me to  _jail,_  not to bed."

"Ah, but  _that_ is an admission that you did spend the weekend with an Avenger. So who was it?" Wanda asked, frowning at her hard. "We've just eliminated everyone."

"I  _still_ didn't say it was an Avenger."

"But you didn't say it wasn't either, so it was … come  _on, K!_  I know these guys!" Wanda looked entirely crestfallen. "And I  _miss_ them. I love them like brothers so please - just spill. I won't tell a soul. Which one of my adopted brothers are you screwing around with when no one is looking?"

K couldn't help but smirk as she let Wanda pull her down to have a seat. "Out of the options … who  _could_ find me?" K asked, trying to let her figure it out herself, but when Wanda simply shook her head and continued to stare at her, K let out all her breath. "It's Tony."

Wanda blinked at her for a moment, then couldn't hide the delighted sort of look on her face. "Do you have any idea how big of a deal this is?" she asked quietly. "You have to tell me all about it." She didn't give up until K settled in and told her how it had kicked off - and how it had apparently continued.

"You need to test this theory," Wanda said. "We need to see how long it takes him to find you when you're back on the ground."

"What makes you think he'd try?" K asked, frowning.

"Oh, come  _on_ ," she said. "If you don't believe me, then you can tell Vision and see what he has to say about it."

"We're not telling Vision."

"Only because you're afraid to hear that I'm right." Wanda was grinning at her and K knew that it was a matter of time before Vision knew anyhow - which would only result in a few muted smirks anyhow.

* * *

"How did you get this?" Scott asked looking completely confused as he went from staring at the drive in his hand to staring at Tony, who looked perfectly relaxed with his hands in his pockets.

"I told you," Tony said. "I found her, and she told me to give it to you."

Scott frowned deeper, his hand closed around the drive as he worked his jaw. "Alright. How did you even  _find_ her?"

Tony smirked. That one he  _knew_ he could answer honestly. "I was kind of inspired after I thought about how Magneto yanked her away from me in Chicago." He held up a little device that fit in his palm. "Of course, this won't pull her, but it will point where she is. Roughly. It was still a matter of having Jarvis run the records of who was checked in where when it turned out that the area was all high-brow, and some searching once I got there." He tapped the side of his glasses. "Facial recognition did the rest. Just had to keep my eyes open."

It wasn't exactly an implausible explanation - bit it really did leave a lot up to interpretation. But Tony kept his composure all the same as he waited for whatever Scott was going to throw at him.

Scott was turning the drive over in the palm of his hand as he frowned at Tony before he finally let out a breath. "Well?" he said at last. "Were you able to  _talk_ to her - or did she just give you the drive and ditch you?"

Tony frowned as if he was getting the third degree from a teenager - which wasn't too far off from the truth of it. "Of course I talked to her. And she didn't want to hear it."

Scott let out a breath. "I don't get it," he said. "She's ready to give us this - and then she can't even listen to us."

"Yeah, sorry, bud. I'm not a shrink. I can't untangle that one for you."

Scott ran a hand down his face and then looked over the drive once more. "And she just… gave it to you. It doesn't have a tracer or some kind of bug?"

"Nope, looked it over myself. Figured we didn't need it crashing anything important. No hidden codes or viruses. Nothing off." Tony gestured with one hand. "She did say she got a few locations off of it - holding places … labs, couple other camps. Just what you'd expect."

Scott let out a breath. "I'd like to see that too…"

"This was kind of a trade off," Tony said. "Seeing as I figured out who she was going to see. I gotta say, Magneto's got some weird dynamics in his organization."

Scott raised both eyebrows. "Okay, I'll bite."

"Emma Frost is in Magneto's little group," Tony said. "And you should be aware of how she's always been one to look for whoever's in power." He gestured to the drive in Scott's hand. "This girl you're trying to recruit or turn or whatever? She's the one they send in when they don't know what they're facing. Only … Emma  _lied_."

"Not surprising," Scott said with a sneer.

"Nor should it be," Tony agreed. "See, the thing is … she sent K to recruit  _Selene_. Now …  _why_ would Emma Frost need to send someone else to talk to Selene?"

Scott stopped and didn't bother to hide his look of surprise. "She sent K to get the life drained out of her," he said. "She'd like to get her hands on Logan too - for that exact reason."

Tony held out both hands. "That's what I figured, too. Caught up to her before she could hit the elevator button."

Scott was shaking his head before Tony had finished his sentence. "That really just makes the push to get her on our side more important," he said. "If Magneto's other lieutenants are trying to get rid of her…"

"Just have to keep chippin' away," Tony said as he turned to leave Scott with the drive. "There's a new laptop on the dining room table - no internet connection. No password yet."

"Thanks," Scott said, then paused. "If you can catch up to her again…"

"Working on a way to make the metal come up as untrackable to magnets," Tony called out over his shoulder. "Of course tech and actual talent for that may work differently…" He spun to face Scott - still walking away from him. "Hey. Send Logan down later. I'm sure he won't mind."

Scott almost snerked but didn't quite get there as he was setting up the laptop. "Right. I'm sure he'll appreciate that."

And while Scott mulled over what he was seeing on the drive, Tony headed down to his shop, all bright energy as he thought over a few different means to solve the Magneto problem. But when he got down to the locked doors, he had to tip his head to the side when he saw that one of the little boys was camped out with his nose pressed against the glass. "Whatcha up to killer?" Tony called out, getting Peter to startle slightly then turn with his hands behind his back.

"I was just - um. Looking." He was wide-eyed and was having trouble deciding if he wanted to keep an eye on Tony or continue peeking through the window.

"Run out of things to do in the gym?" Tony asked, though he didn't key in his code yet. He'd already learned how quick the wall crawlers were at memorizing patterns from the trouble they'd caused at Westchester.

Peter shook his head. "No, no … I just …  _can I please come and take a look? I promise I won't touch anything!"_

Tony blew out a breath and thought it over for a moment before he looked down the hall and then shrugged. "Alright, but I'm going to hold you to that. Don't. Touch." He took just a moment to enjoy the look of sheer  _joy_ on Peter's face before he scanned his palm and held the door open for Peter to step inside - and immediately fall into a state of pure awe as he stared at one project after another.

"So," Tony said once Peter had quietly made the lap around the lab. "Think you can take something apart - and make it still work when you put it back together?"

Peter was nodding silently as Tony pulled open a drawer then set what looked like a fairly small motor onto a clear space on the bench. "This … this works right now. But if you want to see  _how_ it works …" Tony pulled out a few tools and set them down next to the motor. "Take it apart. Remember how it came apart and then put it back together."

As Peter climbed up on a stool to start to grin at the little project in front of him, Tony called out to his AI system to start up the music.


	24. If You Give An Inventor A Project ...

K's gift to the X-Men was loaded with more intel than what Scott could sift through easily. And while there was a ton of information on the mutants that had been detained, there was also an extensively well maintained record of what had become of every mutant that had passed through their doors - Steve and Scott had agreed on one thing above even breaking up more camps: the sentinel manufacturers had to be shut down.

For some reason, the politicians hadn't realized that putting more sentinels out there to try and capture Magneto and his supporters wasn't going to work as long as they kept using copper wiring. The plastic bodies were fine - but their coding hadn't changed yet and Erik already knew how to reverse the settings to target non-mutants.

With this information laid out in front of them, they knew exactly where they had to go to shut it down. It was a genius spot, really - in the far outreaches of the Australian outback, hundreds of miles from civilization. But in spite of having a plan in place, it was going to be a few weeks still before they could launch their attack. And for more reasons than Scott was happy with, too.

If Scott was being honest, he was looking forward to a solid break from the old Stark mansion - the one that had once housed the Avengers headquarters before Tony had the tower built, and he supposed, was once again the Avengers headquarters. At first it had been fun walking through the place, but after accidentally running into a few too many obstacles where Stark's AI security system had abruptly announced that he wasn't authorized to access one area or another, Scott was ready to move on.

It wasn't that he was ungrateful for Tony's hospitality, it was just that it was a solid reminder of the thin separation that still existed between the Avengers and the X-Men - or at least between Tony and everyone else. The lab being off limits had made sense, and in an odd way, Scott completely understood when Jarvis had quietly told him early one morning that the entire wing that had once been the Stark family's bedrooms were off limits - and still in the same condition they were when Howard and Maria died. It wasn't something he'd  _expected_ out of the famed billionaire, but it was such a concrete display of actual grief that it was hard to ignore.

And that, Scott could understand. He eased up on Tony when he realized that was at least  _part_ of what his restrictions were about. The other part … the other part was a constant reminder that Tony was still the top weapons developer in the world - and that had Scott a little on edge. He had no idea what kinds of munitions were stored on site - or in Tony's lab. The fact that Tony was letting little Peter join him down there had him a little concerned, but … after Tony had gotten Peter started it was clear the kid was enjoying himself.

Scott had to laugh when he caught Peter taking apart Tony's toaster at the kitchen table, his face screwed up in concentration as he carefully laid out every part - all while Jarvis seemed to ignore the situation with a quiet smirk on his face as he drank his tea nearby.

Of course, there were other issues that had cropped up - and since the X-Men were with the Avengers, they found out a lot faster from SHIELD that the sentinels had pinpointed the Blackbird's heat signature, so they could be more easily tracked. Until of course, Tony had offered to upgrade the jet a little bit.

It was the first time that Scott would get a chance to see the man at work- and of course, he insisted on being there for  _his_ plane's upgrade. So he wasn't expecting to find that Stark's private hangar was filled with blaring music when he arrived with Logan to pitch in. He didn't have any idea what it was Tony had in mind, and he'd  _thought_ it would have been a nice distraction from all the stress … but …

Crates full of who knows what were lined up on either side of the blackbird, and it wasn't until Scott walked around the first stack that he realized that Tony had already started. Without him.

The engines were torn out and lying in a scrap pile in the corner. One of the wings was already off - along with the mechanism that had made it possible for vertical take off and landing, and in the middle of the chaos, Tony was almost dancing as he worked.

It was a shock to Scott's system and it wasn't until he watched Logan break open a crate that he even realized what exactly Tony was up to.

From the hole in the side of the fuselage where the wing had once been, Scott could clearly see that the inside was nearly gutted as well - consoles were torn loose, wires were being scattered- he couldn't quite tell what was original still, but when Tony stepped over to him - it was with a grin.

"Alright, I know you think that I worked your baby over and did unspeakable things to her -"

"You  _did_."

"- I …" Tony stopped and let out a breath. "Well. If you want to stick with that analogy, I can work with that." He tipped his head toward Scott. "Your little girl is growing up, Scott. She'll be  _faster_ and handle like a gymnast by the time I'm done." He grinned to himself and then gestured arms out as he continued. "Heat signatures will be a thing of the past in … oh, a few hours."

Scott was still openly staring at what looked to him like a crime scene as Logan smirked next to Tony. "What … what did you  _do_?" Scott almost breathed out.

"Your electrical system was a nightmare," Tony said. "I didn't find out about that though until I was already setting up the pigtails for the new engines … though, that might be a little loose of a description." Tony stepped forward to usher Scott away from the jet. "I'm glad you're here to help though. It's less a moving parts issue and more … efficiency."

"You tore my jet apart," Scott said, still obviously shocked by the  _extent_ of it all - and the fact that he hadn't even  _been_ there. "You tore my jet apart  _without me_. I thought this was just going to be about the heat signature!"

"Trust me on this," Tony said with a grin. "By the time I'm done, your jet will run smoother, fly faster-"

"I've worked on that jet  _myself_ since I was a kid!" Scott interrupted him, a slightly brighter glow behind his eyes. "You can't just- you can't just  _do_ that!"

Logan was clearly more and more entertained as he watched Tony stare at Scott in obvious surprise - not having expected the reaction at all - as Scott seemed to be on the cusp of an aneurysm. "He's just like this. You should know this by now," Logan said, though it wasn't clear who he was directing his comment to, or who it was about, though it certainly applied both ways.

"I want you to walk me through what the hell you're doing to my jet," Scott said, ignoring Logan for the moment.

"Relax big guy," Tony said, still looking as if he wasn't bothered at all. "As you can see … I got rid of the outdated tech for starters …" he paused when the look on Logan's face clearly read that Tony needed to step back just a little bit. "This … this kind of thing is just what I  _do_ , Scott. You'll be head and shoulders above everyone else on the planet when I get through. Guaranteed." He tipped his head to the side. "Well. Except me."

Scott still had his arms crossed. "I don't mind getting better tech. But this is - I was under the impression I'd get input in my  _own jet_."

Tony's shoulders dropped and he rolled his eyes hard. "Can you keep up with the quantum mechanics that make this stuff work?"

"Can you pull your head out of your ass long enough to let me?"

Logan shook his head with a low whistle then stepped between the two of them, though it was clear he wasn't sure who needed it more … so he turned toward Tony and leaned close enough to keep his tone low - though he wasn't trying to hide it from Scott. "He's attached to his toy. I know that you know what that's like."

"Actually - No. No I don't," Tony said before he stepped around Logan and put a hand on Scott's shoulder, trying to steer him toward one of the large crates. "You are  _this close_  to a whole tear down and rebuild, you know that, right? I stopped ripping it up when I did because I was trying to preserve as much of it as I could. Anyhow … I started out by getting rid of the old engines that they have keyed in to  _find you_."

"Yeah, that part I did get, thanks," Scott shot back dryly. "That was  _why_ I agreed to let you look at the jet in the first place."

Tony couldn't help but chuckle. "I'm replacing them with repulsor tech," Tony explained. "No heat signature at all. Ever." he was grinning outright by that time - though Scott hadn't quite noticed the excited gleam Tony had going on. "It'll handle  _so_ much better - tighter turns, quicker acceleration …"

"Well look at that, I followed that whole explanation," Scott said dryly. "Now tell me about the rest of it."

Tony was in too good of a mood to let Scott get to him though. "You'll have more room in the fuselage with the tanks gone - since I'm getting ready for a custom arc reactor build to power the thing. No more fuel ups - no more limited distance … and it'll be lighter too."

Scott nodded. "Alright. What do you need me to do?"

Tony gestured at Scott - head to toe. "You can start by switching to decaf," he said - which finally had Logan losing his composure and breaking down laughing, albeit quietly as he walked away from the two of them.

That just had Scott glaring Logan's way. "Yeah, sure. I'll just pick one of your projects and take it apart without telling you and see how you do."

"Be my guest," Tony said.

"Great. Gimmie a suit."

"Point taken - but I wouldn't advise trying that … little easier to lock up than an old jet." He started toward one of the bigger boxes and started to pry it open. "Of course … if this jet project doesn't pan out right, I might think of taking on a sidekick. You wouldn't even need the weapons systems."

"Wouldn't that make you the sidekick if your weapons are redundant?" Scott said, though he was starting to smirk as he let his shoulders relax.

"With all my bells and whistles?" Tony said with a grin. "Hardly." He gestured at the now-opened box. "Want to see how this thing will be wired up?"

"That  _was_ why I came."

"We're gonna need to get you some more time with your girl, clearly," Tony said. "Seriously. So uptight." He pushed part of the new power system toward Scott. "Let's get this mounted first. The rest will work a lot better with power in place. Though, I have to apologize right now - the glow will be blue. Nothing to be done about it."

It only took the three of them a few days to completely revamp the jet - and Scott was reasonably sure that Tony hadn't left the hangar once he started the work, either. The only real marker of how  _much_ time had passed was the intermittent food deliveries by Tony's bodyguard, and even at that, he didn't  _stop_ while he was working.

But … when it was finally done - and everything was finally in place and adjusted to such fine specs that the computers had to do the measurements - Tony couldn't have looked prouder. He clapped his hands together when Scott joined him in the cockpit as the AI system ran the final checks and the control panels fired up. "Ready to give it a test run?" Tony asked.

Scott couldn't help but smirk as he looked it over. "Looking forward to it."

Tony gestured to the pilot's seat - which had much more extensive restraint devices. "I have g-suits for the team if you're going to fly this thing at speed, you'll need them under your uniforms and oh … hey. Look at that," Tony said, tapping a panel in front of him. "Oxygen assistance."

That honestly had Scott grinning. "What's the top speed?"

"One way to find out," Tony said flatly. "But she's a little hotter than you're used to, I can tell you that much for sure. I also put in a new system - same one I have in my suit - it'll monitor your vitals and if you pass out, it'll up the oxygen in the mask and take over on autopilot until you come around enough to fly it yourself."

Scott nodded, not bothering to hide his grin. "Let's open her up."

"Now … keep in mind any speed records wouldn't be official. The radars won't believe it or the SR-71 already wouldn't be listed at the top right now, I can tell you that for sure. But if you can keep awake - you should be able to get it close to Mach 3 plus? If you're lucky." Before Scott could get too comfortable, Tony stood up and gestured for him to put on the g-suit first. "I'm not kidding. Don't play around with this. I'll go with you this time just so you can see what all the bells and whistles are."

"I'm not going to play around with it," Scott said, rolling his eyes behind his glasses. "My dad was in the Air Force. I do actually  _know_ what I'm doing."

"Well, knowing what Dad could teach you and actually going through the crap training yourself are two different things. Not a criticism - I know you're good. This is just a little step up from what you guys have had available to you."

"Shut up and show me what we've got," Scott said, shaking his head.

Once they were both suited up and ready to go with the oxygen masks in place - and working, Tony started to lay it out for him. "Like the  _actual_ SR-71 Blackbird, you can take this one up to around 80,000, but don't even consider it without the suits. They're pressurized starting at about 40,000 - just to be safe. There are safety advances that will protect you and your team should there ever be a reason that you need to crash - don't do that by the way - there are heat exchangers that will keep the cabin cool and pressurized even at a top speed, top altitude failure. Like … some kind of miracle missile. Because you can outfly whatever they shoot at you." Tony took a deep breath and let it out in a woosh.

"Now. If you're flying slower - full occupancy - rescued people - whatever … I put in flares and countermeasures that will fire back."

Scott nodded slowly. "Good. We do pickups more often than anything else."

"Well … even with that, if they get a target lock on you, 99% of the time that won't be an issue if you pour on a little speed."

"Yeah, no, I believe that," Scott said as he looked over the controls. "Just on the speed alone…" He grinned to himself. "You do this to the Quinjets too?"

"This?" Tony asked, leaning toward the console. "No. Not this fast. They don't need it, and they go missing too often for my tastes."

Scott raised an eyebrow at that. "Then why…"

"I don't trust SHIELD not to let this kind of tech slip over to Hydra," Tony said. "And I work too hard to make this stuff work  _right_ that I don't really want to see an army of Hydra flying on my tech, okay? Good talk. Fire it up."

Scott smirked at that and didn't need more prompting than that to open up the blackbird and see what she could do - and even if he still didn't exactly understand  _why_ Tony had suddenly decided to put his newest technology into the X-Men's jet, he couldn't hide the fact that it was honestly  _fun_ to get to open up the blackbird like that.

"The AI has our vitals - come on, step it up a notch, Cyclops," Tony said. "Push it."

Scott couldn't help but grin Tony's way. "Sure. I'll  _play_ ," he said just before he really punched it - like he'd been wanting to do in the first place.

The sudden burst of speed put both of them back into their seats, and as the AI system announced in the helmets exactly how fast they were going, Tony was flat out cheering and urging Scott to go  _faster._  "It won't let you do anything that'll tear it apart, there are sensors on  _everything_ if anything looks like it's compromised, it'll bring you back down to whatever is maximum to keep it together … so, how about some zero G's?" Tony held his hand up enough to signal to Scott as if they were going up and down waves, or riding a roller coaster, and with a hidden grin behind his mask, Scott compiled and took it a step further going into rolls and loops, tight turns - surprising himself a little at the versatility of the plane.

And when it was over, and they were headed back to Tony's hangar, it was Tony that called it out with a grin once they were on the ground. "Okay, what was our top speed?" he asked - to the computer system on line.

He watched Scott when the system responded with a clear "Twenty Three hundred and sixty two miles per hour."

"That's a little over Mach Three," Tony said.

Scott grinned outright. "Alright, that was a  _great_ ride."

"And you thought I wrecked it," Tony said dryly.

"I thought you tore down my jet without any of my input," Scott corrected him. "I don't mind if you want to help me or my team - but you can't just … tear it apart without permission."

"Want me to undo it?"

"Did I say that?" Scott shot back. "I'm telling you I like the jet, Stark. Learn to take a little constructive criticism on your people skills."

"Well if I'm gonna get a lecture from a kid, I can always just … put it back."

"If you need a lecture from a kid on basic courtesy, I can't help you."

Tony nodded at that, "Right well. You're welcome."

Scott let out a breath and shook his head. "Thank you," he said. "It's a great jet. And a blast to fly. I'm just asking you to - your team never cared to get involved with ours and then you tear down my jet? Try and think about how it looks when you do stuff like that, huh?" He got to his feet and then paused. "And hey, next time you want to lecture me about my age and whether I'm allowed to have a say in anything because of it, you might want to consider how long us  _kids_ were fighting Magneto before you caught up. Just saying."

"Why do you think I'm doing what I'm doing?" Tony said, perfectly calmly. "I hadn't really thought about it - and you present yourselves like adults. I don't have everyone's personal information in the armor. Cap's right. We're supposed to keep an eye on everyone - that's what the team we started was even created for. It was an  _extreme_ oversight not seeing what was happening with the mutant population sooner. And I'm gonna fix it."

Scott paused for a second and then turned Tony's way with a much more open expression. "I'd never ask - this isn't some guilt complex in play, is it?" he asked, gesturing at the jet. "I like the jet, Stark, don't get me wrong. But I don't want you to feel like you  _owe_ … anything."

Tony raised an eyebrow and tipped his chin up "First of all, it's 'Tony'," he said. "And secondly - no. I'm pretty sure I don't own one of those … guilt … whatevers. But … you know what this is? This is me trying to help level the playing field for a bunch of teenagers that are trying to fight a lunatic that's capable of sustaining a  _space station_ single handedly and going back and forth between it and the earth like he's going out to buy lottery tickets down the block." Tony shook his head. "I know he's got a lot of it held up by his magnetism - but believe me, there is a lot of sophisticated tech in play up there too. Magneto is decent with tech - and considering how much of a pain he is, you should be better."

For a moment, Tony stood there, not even trying to explain how he got to his conclusions before he finally simply started walking toward Happy, who was waiting with a car. "How long have we been working on this thing? Day or two? I lost count."

"Four," Happy said as he held the door open for the two of them, though he gave Scott a little bit of a look. "At least your girlfriend managed to get you to go back and sleep now and again."

"I guess that makes you a lackluster girlfriend," Scott said straight faced and without missing a beat.

Tony was absolutely howling laughing at that, though. "Oh, you gotta let that out more often, Cyclops!"

"Scott," he said. "And I do. When the opportunity is just…  _begging_ for it like that."

"Then we have to find you more opportunities," he said, still giggling to himself.


	25. Hidden Intentions

Things back at the mansion were in pre-mission mode as Steve and Logan laid out their thoughts on how best to approach the sentinel factory - and when they saw Scott and Tony coming in - it was just a matter of running them both through it before everyone involved was suiting up to go.

"Who have you got going co-pilot?" Tony asked as they headed for the jet.

"Logan," Scott said.

Tony nodded at that. "Then I'll see you there." He gave Scott an almost manic grin. "I'll have the distractions in place when you guys get there."

"As long as you're not reprising the show you gave Jan…"

"I'd need a partner," Tony shouted back at him just as he finished getting his armor in place. "Never was too shy!" He took off before the jet was even loaded, which just had the whole group going shaking their heads at him.

But … the mission went amazingly smoothly - even with the team giving Scott odd looks when he had them get set up with their g-suits and when they were airborne - the oxygen masks too. The group of guards never saw them coming - not until it was too late anyhow, and Tony had been sure to set them up with enough charges and munitions to take the whole building down fast, though they didn't get to see the explosion until they were well above it and looking down.

They were all settling in - enjoying the easy mission when Scott spotted the red and gold armor out of his cockpit window. "Hey, I think I might be starting to wear down. The siesta on the way here wasn't enough," Tony said through the comms to Scott. "So … how about a race? Something easy and friendly to keep me awake?"

"If I find out you have a backdoor in here to cheat your way to a win…"

"Don't need one," Tony said. "I'm just faster. Probably." He banked out far enough that there wasn't going to be a wash issue and turned his head toward Scott. "On your mark -"

"Go," Scott shot back and simply punched it.

Tony fell back for just a moment, but in no time, he was back - and visible through the window - laughing hard. "How are they taking it?" Tony asked. And when Scott replied with a very amused sounding 'okay', Tony laughed harder, and fired his suit up just a little bit hotter, though not quite enough to go  _too_ far ahead of Scott - which was clearly a shock to both of them.

On landing, Tony was clearly out of breath and he stumbled once he was out of the armor - though to save his pride at least - the rest of the group had yet to get out of the plane, so it was in privacy. Which he was that much more grateful for when his cell phone chimed at him and he saw that the device he'd made to keep an eye out for a certain little brunette was tipping him off that she was back on terra firma. "Honey, your timing is something else," Tony muttered to himself. " _Why_  … when I'm wiped out …" He was shaking his head at her timing if nothing else.

"The plane is great," Jean said. "But ... "

"We really need to be closer to it," Scott finished. "We need to find somewhere that we can have the jet in easier reach."

Tony blew out a breath at that, but nodded his head. "I've got a place with a hangar outside of Chicago," he offered. "While you're waiting for your contractors to wrap up on the damage in Westchester."

"It'd only take us a few days to get most everything moved," Jan said. "But I do like having the younger crowd close …"

"It's probably smart to keep both groups close anyhow. If we have a government agency coming in for the mutants, they'll back down with us around - and vice versa if it's an anti-human group for us," Steve said. "That is … if you aren't against it."

"Not at all," Jean said quickly. "Besides, it's nice to have everyone together - Teddy wouldn't want you to leave, and Sam's so sweet with Clint…"

"Then we'll pack up too, and by Tuesday, we should be out of the old Avengers mansion," Steve said with a nod.

"Oh good," Jean said with a genuinely warm smile.

Scott frowned as he watched Happy help Tony to his feet. Enough time had passed since he'd landed that he didn't need as  _much_ support, but it was still a fine thing - and Tony was glad he wasn't driving. "Great. I'll make sure you have what you need to move everyone and everything to the new place," Tony said. But Scott's impulse to ask Tony if he was okay was cut off as the professor reached out to him.

 _I'm going to need you to get Logan and Captain Rogers to look into some disturbing new activity,_ Charles projected.  _It seems as though several of the more aggressive nations are planning to attack Genosha._

Scott paused, and turned toward the group - and as he opened his mouth, his phone went off with an unknown number. He shook his head and plugged one ear as he answered the call.

"Erik is planning to  _not_ defend Genosha," K said quickly. "I'm not sure when it's going to happen, but he's been purposely riling up anyone that's aggressive enough  _hoping_ for them to hit."

"What?" Scott said, all of the high from the successful mission up in smoke.

"This is the first I've been on the ground in  _weeks_ ," K said, a clear shake to her voice. "Or I would have told you as soon as I found out."

It was clear even through the connection that she was angry about it, and Scott honestly didn't know what to say to her other than what was most recent: "We're monitoring it. Just because they chose to go with Magneto doesn't mean that we won't try to keep them safe."

K let out a sigh of relief. " _Good_. I just … I don't know what I can do about it - and I know you have resources …" She paused. "If I hear about anything more pressing …"

"Don't hesitate to call," Scott said, clearly upset with what he was hearing - not only the news of what Magneto was planning, but for how clearly emotional she was. That wasn't something he'd had any experience with in regards to K. "I swear to you, I'll throw everything I have at this."

She let out a weary sigh at that, though she still hadn't tried to hide her emotion. " _Thank you_ ," she said. "I have no idea how to get in touch with anyone else - and I know you're close with the Avengers right now …"

"Call me as soon as you have something," Scott said. "We're keeping a close eye, but you're right there in the thick of it…."

"I'll find a way to the ground if I have to," she said. "The phones don't work very well up there - and even if they did, I'm sure he's got them bugged."

"Wouldn't surprise me," Scott said, shaking his head. "I swear, this is going to be my top priority until we have a feasible evacuation plan in place. We'll make sure we can move on it as  _soon_ as it happens, alright? We're not going to condemn an island of people to die."

"Good," she said again. "I think he's trying to go that way because they  _can't_ fight. They're not  _powerful_ , or they're too young … or too old. It's just ... " She made a little noise at the back of her throat that bordered on a growl. "I'll call."

"We can put anyone who needs it in the evacuation plan," Scott said carefully. "I doubt everyone up there agrees with this."

"Be sure you keep Pietro on it too," she said. "Erik has him there on Genosha - and he has no idea what his father is up to."

"Do you think he's angling to get a martyr?" Scott asked, his grip on the phone tightening.

"Pietro or Erik?" K asked. "Because there are two very different answers there."

"Erik," Scott said. "I doubt Pietro would do that, even if he's trying to follow Magneto."

"Oh, well I don't  _have_  to think about it," K said. "Erik  _admitted it_  to me. That's his plan."

"I meant do you think he's angling for  _Pietro_ to die there," Scott clarified.

"I wouldn't doubt it one bit," she said. "He's playing chess. That's all this is to him."

Scott let out a noise that showed exactly what he thought of that. "I know you don't agree with him, K."

"No, and you know I'm still right to stay though, don't you?"

"There's going to be a point when you can't anymore, you know that too, right?"

"That doesn't really matter right now," K replied.

"It will. And when it does, call me," Scott said.

"If it goes that far, I doubt I'll get the chance, but thanks for the thought all the same."

"Like I said - we're not in the business of condemning people to die."

"Okay sure. Whatever. Good luck."

"You too."

* * *

K had barely gotten off of the phone with Scott when she got a new call coming in - and on seeing who it was, she had to shake her head. "What did you do?" she asked. "Find a way to LoJack me?"

"No. Not quite that crude," Tony replied - sounding like he was still in fine form. "I've got a little free time opening up later this week, if you're up for it."

"That sounds official and not at all like a set up," K replied as sarcastically as she could.

"Just come by on Tuesday, okay? The house will be empty, I'll send you the address. I know how your boss likes to leave you to your own devices for not-quite long enough to cause any  _real_ trouble."

K couldn't help but smile at that, after all - the stress levels for her had been slowly but surely ratcheting up - even with the time she'd had with Billy and Tommy. The whole mess about 'Target:Genosha' in her mind had been simmering. And he was exceptionally good for stress relief. "Your approximation might just be off - I'm known to be wandering around for weeks at a time," she said. "I  _might_ be able to squeeze some time in for you. But if you try to get me arrested -"

"Not happening," he said, cutting her off. "My only request is that you don't have the Hawkeye t shirt make a resurgence."

"Now that's just controlling," she said, finally chuckling to herself. "See you Tuesday. Probably."

She headed out, away from the cafe she'd been sitting at near the river - though before she could get to the rental car, the text came through with the address, and K simply stopped walking when she saw what it was. "You've got to be joking," she said half under her breath. She ran a hand over her mouth and then looked around her at the locals before she started swearing in Swedish.

She only had a few people to visit before the weekend was out - and she was pretty sure that she'd have it all covered well before then. Which meant she had a little time to herself to see how much of a set up it actually was.

* * *

As she'd expected, the mutants K had been sent after to meet weren't anything that terribly exciting. The power sets were not impressive - and the attitudes they were exuding were over the top. Highly inflated self importance was becoming a serious issue with the supporters that were seeking to be in closer contact with Erik, and if K was being honest, she was starting to think they were meant for each other.

But … that would only mean she'd have to deal with them again, so she simply kept to the usual and ignored them if they were too stupid.

When she was done with her interviews, she made her way over to observe the Avengers mansion. No reason not to do a little recon before walking into what she wasn't yet convinced wasn't a trap.

Of course, from Wanda's input, it sounded like Tony might actually be developing some feelings. And K wasn't entirely sure what of think of that yet. He was a lot sweeter than she'd expected he'd be. Not that she was complaining. She just hadn't  _prepared_  for it. At all.

There was a lot of activity around the place, though she couldn't see what exactly was going on when the vehicles entering and exiting were making use of the underground parking garage, so she simply made a point to peek over at the place as she surveilled. She was pointedly working on a crossword puzzle when a well dressed, dark haired, tall, slim man took a seat next to her and rested his arm on the bench behind her in a very familiar way. She barely glanced over at him as he settled in - just as if he'd been there the whole time. "Hello, Sir Vrykolakas," she said in a casual tone. "I wasn't aware that you were on this detail with me today."

"Magneto has no idea that I'm here," he said easily with a wave before he slid his arm from the back of the bench to around her shoulders and then pulled her into him slightly. She tried to straighten up and lean away, but he simply wasn't having it. "Though I am well aware that you don't have any reason to be watching the Avengers short of your recent  _fling_."

"I don't see what business it is of yours," K said frankly, but at that, she managed to get a growl from Vrykolakas.

"What business it is  _of mine?_ " He asked, one eyebrow raised high. "My precious  _pet_ , I'm  _invested_ in your well being, and this ….  _Self proclaimed_ hero will only bring you more trouble at  _best_." He'd reached over to tip her chin up toward himself as he spoke. "And I'm concerned for when they take what little freedom you've afforded yourself when they lock you up like some low beast."

She started to lean back from him, earning herself a frown as he leaned toward her, letting his voice drop low, almost to a purr. "What do you know about your new lover, my dear?"

K faltered for an instant, though she couldn't avoid his gaze. "I know his history, his habits …"

"But you're unaware of his  _talents_ ," Vrykolakas said. When she frowned, he smiled, his expression almost patient. "The man can see potential. Often before he sees the people attached to it." He shifted so he was nearly whispering in her ear. "Consider the possibilities. He  _is_ the world's foremost weapons developer. And the last project he was working on that distracted him of all his senses …" his hand slid from her chin up to cradle the side of her head. "... was only missing the adamantium to finish it."

She couldn't pretend as if he hadn't hit a button as he continued. "Pym had been working with him on a sentient artificial intelligence that they planned to use as a tool to  _save the world_. Though … Stark had wanted to reinforce their device with a metal so rare that even his deep pockets had trouble slicking the right palms for the materials." By that point, K was hardly breathing, and it almost wasn't necessary when Vrykolakas continued. "Tell me, how has he been able to find you?" K glanced up and held his gaze. "Doesn't it seem odd that suddenly he's called off his Avengers from capturing you?"

"They're not … they're on the team together-"

"Stark  _started_ that team," Vrykolakas said softly. "He funds it, and they are  _all_ on his payroll. You know as well as I that if a man with that much pull tells them to find another target - they will do as they're told."

"I don't think it's quite like that …"

"You think he holds an honest affection?" Vrykolakas asked in an incredulous tone. "Even if those that know him best are shocked at such a suggestion?" He tipped his chin down and tutted for a moment.

"He  _hasn't_ lied to me," K said, frowning as again, he tipped her chin up and she leaned back to jostle his hand away from her.

"No, perhaps not. But I doubt he's told you the whole  _truth_ either." he leaned closer so that even when he whispered, she'd barely hear it. "Watch your step if you  _insist_ on playing in dangerous waters, my lovely girl. Should you need my help to escape, a more firm deal will need to be arranged." He turned his head so that she could feel his breath on her neck before he leaned back - and then just as quickly as he'd shown up - he was gone in a swirl of red smoke.

For a moment, K shivered before she gathered up her crossword puzzle and simply left. She'd planned to watch and see who all was coming and going - but Vrykolakas had her just … wanting to  _go._

* * *

When Tuesday afternoon rolled around, K gathered herself up and headed over to Tony's address - the old Avengers mansion - though she was positively anxious over it after Vrykolakas had spent some time whispering in her ear. She'd occasionally watched as both Avengers and X-Men were going back and forth over the few days that she'd had free.

She was very much on the fence - and seriously considering just … walking away when she heard Tony's bodyguard, Happy, wishing those that were leaving a safe trip … just before he hopped into a car himself and left as well.

K narrowed her eyes and very cautiously made her way up to the door, tensed and ready to fight if need be - though that clearly wasn't necessary when the only one around to answer the door was the butler - which was another odd experience. He was genuinely welcoming and outright kind when he not only let her in, but tried to take care of her while she waited for her host."Where are your buddies headed - or is this the temporary break before they come back in full force?" K asked when Tony made his way toward her a short while later.

"How many times do I have to tell you the plan  _isn't_ to arrest you?" Tony asked with a little frown as he stepped up the rest of the way to her. He met her gaze and held it for a moment as he rested his hand at her waist then leaned in to steal a lingering kiss.

"At least once more," she said, biting her lip once the kiss had broken. "Little harder to believe when you know … this is your  _clubhouse_."

He smirked crookedly at the description and slid his hand to the small of her back as he led the way deeper into the building. "If it was a clubhouse, it'd be no girls allowed, and that's just no fun at all. Never understood that about clubhouses ..." She smiled to herself at that - and he continued on. "You know, Scott and the guys have been scrambling-"

She turned and covered his mouth with one hand. "No shop talk, please. I don't want to hear the hero speech."

He took her hand off of his mouth and leaned back. "I was  _going_ to tell you about the rest of them … since I know that no one else has."

"Alright … but I draw the line at the stories about Cyclops putting his baby teeth under his pillow hoping for a visit."

"Nah, we don't leave silver dollars in my house. We leave Mach 3 jets," Tony said with a pleased, crooked smirk.

"Oh, so you're spoiling him," she said, nodding. "That's … interesting. Is Scott your favorite then? Because it sounds like you're picking favorites if you're giving him a  _jet._ "

Tony chuckled. "Hey, it took a jet just to get him to crack a joke, I'll have you know. Did you know he does that? I apparently missed the memo."

"No, that's a bald faced lie, Mr. Stark," she said. "You sure that wasn't a shapeshifter or something?"

"Happy almost died on the spot," Tony laughed, pulling her closer as he grinned. "Of course, the joke was on Happy... " He chuckled to himself. "He started complaining about how at least Scott's girl gets him out of the jet every once in a while, right? Kid turns around, doesn't even miss a beat - 'that makes you a crap girlfriend' and I  _swear to you_ I saw Happy's soul leave his body."

K chuckled at that, finally smiling at the whole situation as she rested her hands on his chest as she faced him. He was so relaxed and so genuine … if he was trying to deceive her, then he'd grown tremendously in underhanded dealings since his last encounter with a spy. "If that's the case, at least I know why you're sneaking me by Happy when his back is turned. I don't want to get in the way of your beloved."

"Oh yeah, he's the jealous type," Tony laughed.

"I'm sure, mortified at the very thought your eye might be roving. And all that …while getting the mickey taken out of him by the world's oldest teenager. It's going to be a real pain to find him some Louboutins in size fifteen and a half to apologize for your mistress."

"You know I didn't believe you on the ages until I looked it up myself? Kid turns twenty in a month and I swear…"

"Why wouldn't you believe me on that?" she asked, frowning at him with her nose scrunched up.

"Because if you go by that math, the first time they ran up against Magneto, they were, what, sixteen and seventeen  _tops_?"

"Yep, that's what I've got in the files I've seen," she agreed.

"And see, Cap has a coronary at the thought of  _grown adults_ in trouble, so I have  _not_ told him about that little tidbit…"

"I'm sure he'll figure it out. Kid's voice is probably still changing," she deadpanned.

Tony snorted. "Well, he thought Iceman was twelve when we moved in…"

"You're not convincing me that I'm wrong," she said.

"Hey, I'm agreeing with you all the way down the line, sweetheart," Tony said with a crooked smile.

"I'm glad to see you guys watching out for them. Even if they've had a few years, they're still green as hell."

"No kidding," Tony said. "That's not even including the newest ones - who, okay, aren't teenagers, but they are  _green_."

"They are," she said. "It's a different skill set going from working alone to keep afloat and working with others on as a group effort."

"Is that why you're refusing to work with a group? No team skills?" Tony teased.

"No, I'm allergic to jail time and look horrid in orange," K replied as she pulled her hair up off her neck. "Makes me look ill."

He shook his head and grinned wider as he leaned in to steal another kiss that was obviously meant to placate her. "I wasn't trying to talk shop, and I told you … they don't want to jail you"

She closed one eye, but didn't fight him as he kept her close and facing him. "Anyhow … I'm glad there are adults around  _them_ , too. The kids are sweet and every one of them's had a hard lot."

"The itty bitty ones for sure," Tony said. "Thought you might want to know - we got the results back on the tests for Teddy. Took a lot longer to process because it turns out he's not even from Earth. And the results aren't from  _one_ planet. Healthy mix of two -  _count 'em_  - two different aliens. No wonder the Sentinel went after him."

"You're kidding," she said, not looking like she believed it one bit. "But he looks like a sweet little toe-headed blond."

"He  _is_ a sweet little toe-headed blond … that ... turns green when he has a temper tantrum. I  _almost_ called him Hulkling but I think Banner would have killed me on the spot."

"Yeah, don't do that. Undo all my good work trying to keep you alive," she said before she kissed the edge of his jaw. "Besides, most blondes do turn green when they don't get their way."

"No, no. I mean like a stoplight," Tony said as he tried to redirect her slightly - but only to get her moving toward his room.

She raised her eyebrows at him for that. "What have you been doing to those poor babies to make them change color, Tony?" She took his arm and let him pull her down a different hallway. "They are  _impressionable._ "

"I know, and they have Hawkeye  _and_ Gambit teaching Kurt and Peter how to pickpocket," Tony said.

"You're making me rethink my choices on where to bring kids."

"Um, no, excuse you. I'm teaching Peter how to take toasters apart. Kid's a natural at tech.  _Mine_ ," Tony said, drawing himself up.

She couldn't help but laugh at that. "Oh, good. So  _he's_ your favorite. I didn't think you'd flip over to 'dad' so fast."

"He really is smart, K," Tony defended. "He just needs someone to make sure he keeps his mind engaged." He raised an eyebrow at her as they continued down the hall. "I got him started on a motor in the shop..."

"I'm not picking on you. Or him," she promised. "He's a sweetheart. And a brave little thing, too. I pulled him out of a caved in house."

"Yeah." Tony shook his head. "And would you believe who he finds when he has bad dreams about it? Logan! What the hell!"

"I don't know what to tell you, Tony," K said with a smirk.

"The man has a small army, K. A buncha little  _impressionable_ kids and they all hide in - he's shorter than half the girls on  _both_ of our teams and I don't even know where he hides 'em all!"

She stopped and put one hand on her hip as she looked up at him. "What's wrong with short?"

"Not a thing - I'm just saying there should not be enough space to hide six tiny kids behind one stabby short X-Man."

"I mean … maybe it's just that they know no one will screw with them if they're by him. That's probably what they're going for."

"Maybe," Tony allowed, then smirked and pulled K over for a more involved kiss. "I mean, I can't complain  _too_ much. I know I'm enjoying my short, brave, similarly-powered lover…looks a lot better on you though."

"It's okay, Tony," she laughed, unable to stop herself. "If you'd rather take some private time with Wolverine … I'll slip on out the back … won't say a word…"

Tony pulled a face. "Nah," he said before his expression went to one a bit more troublemaking. "He's got nothing on you, gorgeous. The legs alone…"

"Alright, handsome… let's figure out a way to destress, I know I sure as hell could use it."

"I recognize that," Tony said with a smirk. "That's the 'stop talking and drop your pants' clue - which is my favorite part of the evening."

"You're learning," she said, nodding. "Gotta be some kind of reward for that …"

He grinned even wider as he pulled her into one of the rooms. "I'm sure you'll get creative."


	26. Disapproval In Red, White, And Blue

Things were going along swimmingly for Mr. Stark in the big, empty Avengers mansion. K had absolutely gotten creative with him - and he was enjoying every twist and turn she'd come up with. The rest of the Avengers and the X-Men had been gone since shortly before she'd shown up and the date was still going strong  _well_ into Thursday, though they were occupied when someone showed up at the mansion to check on him since Tony absolutely hadn't taken the time to even  _look_ at his phone, let alone answer it. But this time… it wasn't Jan, and there was no shouted out warning like she had done down at the beachside house in Georgia.

In fact, the two lovers were tangled up pretty well at the time as the door to Tony's room started to open. K barely had time to simply bury her face in the crook of Tony's neck as he quickly pulled the covers up and put an arm around her back to pull her tight to him as a minimal means of helping her cover up. The truth was, they honestly didn't have much of anywhere to  _go_  before Steve knocked as he came in already wearing a look of absolute disapproval.

Of course, K couldn't see it, and she was hyper aware of Steve just ... _standing_   _there_ taking in the state of the room and the state of  _them_ for what felt like ages before he finally broke the silence. "Really, Tony?" Steve's tone was completely disapproving as he crossed his arms and gave Tony a  _look._

"I don't understand what the problem is," Tony said, even as he managed to pull the covers up almost to K's shoulder, though she still hadn't moved more than to scrunch into him a little more as he pulled the covers up.

Steve let out a heavy sigh and turned to leave. "Learn to lock your door, Tony. Miss - I apologize for walking in." He left a moment later - with the door closing heavily behind him.

"I had no idea that Captain America was such a joykill," K said as she picked her head up from his shoulder and bit her lip. She began to pull back, but he gave her a little squeeze and stole a quick kiss.

"No reason to let him interrupt us any further. He's gone now …."

"Is he?"

Tony frowned, then tipped his head before he flipped her over and then made his way over to lock the door. "Just in case there's a test later. Besides … we were in the middle of something."

"Yeah, I think you need to start over," she said with a little laugh. "Take it from the top, Mr. Stark."

* * *

When Tony made his way to his place near Chicago on Saturday afternoon, he came in like he always did - a bit disheveled from the wind and the convertible, and looking like all he needed was a cup of coffee and a few days of sleep. "What'd I miss?" Tony asked as he poured his coffee.

"Apparently the sleep you said you needed so badly," Steve said without looking up from his drawing.

Clint snerked, and Jan gave Tony her most imperious look. "I  _told_ you!" she said.

Tony rubbed one arm as he shook his head in disbelief, looking out the window. "Why is this all on me? Who just  _walks_ into someone's bedroom?"

"Who decides to have a tryst in the middle of a big push?" Steve said.

"Everyone was moved!"

"We didn't all move out so you could have  _groupies_ over!" Jan said.

Tony spun her way. "That is  _not …_ no." He was shaking his head and looking irritated at the insinuation.

"Another dangerous assassin, no doubt, then," Natasha said with a smirk, latching on to the fact that Tony simply didn't defend accusations like that. Until now.

Tony gave her a dry look. "Takes one to know one, I guess," he said as snooty as he could manage. "It's not like that so just … stop. Doing that face. That one … just … No."

"I absolutely cannot stop," Natasha said. "Not when you insist on idiocy."

"How is it idiotic to know when I need to unwind?" Tony asked as he went back to his coffee, though he took one sip, made a face and dumped it out. "Who made this?"

"I think Natasha was talking about your choice in partners to unwind with," Hank said with a little smirk.

"You know, just because I find a girl that's up for a good time doesn't mean she's out to kill me or … whatever." He pointed at Natasha. "And just because that's what  _you_ did doesn't mean that's what everyone does."

"You have a track record," Natasha said calmly. "And not just me. There have been plenty of others."

"So a very  _well-proven_ track record," Clint put in.

Tony shook his head at that. "And I'm sure if you go by the numbers, the odds are still in my favor with this."

"What I want to know is who you think is safe to bring into the Avengers headquarters. Even with everyone gone…" Steve shook his head. "For all we know, this woman thought she was getting intel."

Natasha gestured at Steve. "Exactly."

Tony smirked and shook his head. "No … there really wasn't any time for that. Thanks for asking."

Jan let out a groan that was so dramatic it had Jean giggling. "I don't want to  _know_ these things! I'm a delicate head case!" But that was a step too far and had Jean laughing outright, not even bothering to hide it.

"I didn't give you  _details,_ " Tony laughed. "But I  _could_ … or you know, if Cap had been a little quicker -  _he_ could have."

"He just called you slow, Cap," Clint said with a lazy smirk.

"I'll take it and be happy about it," Steve said, shaking his head.

"You know, we could always ask one of the telepaths…" Clint said.

Jean held up both hands quickly. "What makes you think I  _want_ to see that?"

Jan nodded and grabbed Jean's arm protectively. "She's already been traumatized enough by proxy!" she giggled. "And she's too young to see  _that_."

Tony pointed one finger Jan's way. "You … are not funny."

Jan grinned at him and returned the point. " _Au contraire_. I'm hilarious."

He shook his head at her. "What's with all the hate directed at me anyhow?" Tony asked. "I seem to remember  _you_ spending a lot of time flirting with me not  _that_ long ago."

"Standards, Tony," Jan laughed. "I have them. And they include  _not_ flirting with anyone who  _lets me come in when he has a girl in the bed with him_."

"You  _woke me up_ ," he said. "What was I supposed to do? Invite you into it?" He waved one hand. "Even if I'd said something to warn you, I'd still be getting the same routine from you!"

"Maybe I'd have liked to  _talk_ to her!" Jan said. "Like a  _person_ and not a  _dirty little secret_. That is  _super_ unattractive, Tony." She raised an eyebrow Steve's way. "Did he do that to you too? All… under the covers like I didn't know  _exactly what was happening_?"

Steve closed his eyes and shook his head. "No, I think I'd have preferred that, actually," Steve said. "Would have been more subtle."

"Cap, did you sneak an eye full of groupie?" Clint asked, almost breaking his face grinning in delight.

"First of all I didn't  _sneak_ anything. And secondly - it's hard not to when they were in the middle of things with nowhere to hide," Steve said.

" _Super_ unattractive," Jan said again. "Come on, Tony. Give her a little dignity!"

"I … Hey! That was  _her_ call, not mine," Tony said quickly, again holding out one hand. "I don't try to control anyone like that and everyone knows  _I'm_ not overly shy." He tipped his head to the side. "Didn't think she was either but apparently during certain moments …"

"I couldn't see her  _face_ the way she tried to hide," Steve said. "So … who was it, Tony? If she's harmless then what kind of girl just covers her  _face_ and doesn't even try to hide anything else?"

"Anyone we know or was it Kickline Girl Number Seven?" Clint asked.

"You're all rotten. I'm not listening to this," Tony said, shaking his head as he headed for the door. "I'll be in my workshop."

"Hiding," Jan sang out.

"Trying to get some  _work_ done," Tony called back, sounding more irritated.

"Wouldn't have been a problem if you'd stopped screwing around with random girls and gotten to work two days ago," Steve called out as Jan hit him with the back of her hand and sang out 'hi-i-i-i-iding!'.

"Too bad I don't have company!" Tony called back.

Jan let out a dramatic noise that had Jean laughing all over again at that. "Gah!"

But Steve was looking thoughtful. "What are the chances that we might be able to check the security tapes to see who she was?" he asked, looking at Natasha, who seemed to have the same concerns Steve did by the expression she was wearing.

" _Very_  good," Natasha said. "I can have that for you in no time."

"Please," Steve said. "I don't think I can remember him like this before. Covering for a girl. Usually it's a brag fest."

" _I've_  seen it," Jan said. "But I also knew him in social circles  _way_ before you guys did and he usually only acted like this when he was smitten with some socialite…"

"But does that line up with  _her_ trying to hide?" Jean asked. "If you go by the papers - socialites seem to  _want_ that kind of attention, don't they?"

"You wouldn't believe the troubles he's had when he was a little younger," Jan said. "His father broke up a couple relationships being paranoid that the girl was trying to steal secrets."

"But they  _were_ ," Natasha said. "He wasn't paranoid, he was right."

"Yeah, but … Tony was caught in the crossfire. He had really fallen for them." But when all of them seemed to look convinced that it was indeed what the trouble was, Jan felt the need to offer up an explanation other than corporate espionage. "Maybe she's married?" Jan offered. "That happens, you know."

"I don't think he'd do that," Steve said.

"Well, no," Jan said. "But I mean… separated? Or something?"

"I'll find out," Natasha said simply, striding past the group of them - though she was gone far longer than any of them had expected and returned with narrowed eyes and her lips pursed.

"That doesn't look like good news," Jean said.

"He erased the security footage," Natasha said.

"Why?"

"Because he wants me to hang him by his toes to drag it out of him," Natasha said. "That's why."

"Do you think that'd work?" Clint asked, smirking. "Because I would help - watch the door, record it for posterity."

"So he's hiding it as much as she is," Steve said. "That can't be good. Is this a one time thing, do you think …or …. Maybe I should ask how long this has been an issue." Steve turned toward Jan. "How long did it take him before to act like a total idiot?"

"Um, when he  _likes_ someone? It's usually more or less instantaneous?" Jan said, one eye closed as she thought it over. "That's how you  _know_ he really likes a girl- he loses his mind."

"What's left of it," Clint said.

"So all we can do - outside of Natasha doing her interrogation and checking the  _other_ records - is just wait to see if he keeps acting … this dumb?"

"I'll keep my eyes open," Natasha promised. "If it's someone dangerous-"

"-and it probably is," Clint put in.

"-then he'll need us to watch his back," Natasha finished.

"Which is going to be hard to do when he's flitting from one office to the next," Steve said. "I saw the schedule Pepper had laid out for him. He's going to be bouncing between New York, LA, and here for the next month."

"Which was an excellent plan at the time," Natasha pointed out, "considering how hard that makes him to pin down for the other side too."

"And now?" Jean asked, honestly interested in how they were going to try and  _stop_ him.

"Now," Natasha said, shaking her head, "if it was me, this would be the perfect way to isolate and separate him."

"You mean if she's a spy and not a … socialite or whatever," Jean said.

"The term is  _groupie_ ," Clint said. "Weren't you paying attention?"

"I was paying attention to  _Jan_ ," Jean defended.

"As well you should," Jan said, giggling.

"But if she's  _not_ out to get him, then what?" Jean asked. "Does that still qualify as isolate?"

"If she's not," Natasha said, "then I'm still going to warn Tony. Even if  _she_ isn't the one isolating him, he's still leaving himself open."

"So maybe he needs a new bodyguard," Steve said. "Or an additional one."

"Not it," Clint said.

"Rhodes," Natasha said. "He's used to putting up with his nonsense."

Steve nodded. "Do you want to fill him in or should I?"

"That depends - do you think he needs to know the details you do of the  _tryst_?" Clint cackled.

"Not many details to give," Steve said, shaking his head at Clint. "I broke up the fun."

"I'm trying so hard not to make too many jokes in mixed company," Clint said.

Steve let out a patient breath. "I doubt she's a pro of any kind," he said. "Her version of hiding was to tuck into him tighter."

Jan snorted. "Real subtle."

"But effective," Natasha said with an eyebrow raised. "Simple doesn't mean unprofessional. It means simple. And … if she's manipulating him emotionally - that's a great way to let him feel like he's protecting her." She turned to Steve. "Hair color, build, anything you can give me…"

"Ah … I … was trying  _not_ to notice too much," Steve said, almost wincing.

Natasha let out a scoffing noise. "Oh please. You're a soldier with a pulse. You saw  _something_  you can give me and it's certainly more than what Jan saw."

Steve blinked and stammered for a moment before he let out his breath in a heavy sigh, letting his shoulders drop. "Slim, a little more athletic than he usually goes for - long, wavy brown hair and she had a birthmark on her right shoulder blade." He gestured with both hands lightly. "Happy?"

"Very," Natasha said with a smirk. "I was starting to wonder if you'd lost your sight as well as your speed."

"Oh, very funny," he said dryly. "I was trying to  _not_ be that guy."

"Steve," Natasha said, shaking her head, "no one on Earth thinks you're 'that guy'."

"Yes, because I don't  _talk_ about things like that," Steve said.

"I'll bet he could draw a picture," Clint said.

Natasha smirked Clint's way. "Are you asking for yourself, Clinton?"

"No, ma'am," he said, shaking his head. "I was just making a point."

Jan giggled and leaned over to Jean. "He got the full name," she whispered. "I love it when she does that."

"Likely because he too, has a thing for dangerous types," Jean said quietly.

"Oh really? I hadn't noticed," Jan said airily.

Jean nodded thoughtfully. "It probably helps that I can peek if I'm in question," she said.

"Like you need to with them," Jan said, waving a hand. "They couldn't be more obvious if they  _tried_."

"Of course … I think  _all_ of the guys on your team have the same preference when it comes to women, if I'm being honest."

"Well, yeah," Jan said. "I mean, we're constantly facing danger and adrenaline… though Thor is dating a doctor, so that kinda breaks the pattern."

"Yes, but he's also a demigod and he's not always around," Jean said.

"Which is a crying shame, because he  _is_ fun to look at," Jan whispered.

"Don't I know it," Jean whispered back, not even trying to hide it, even as Clint and Steve both gave them a look.

"Oh right. Lip reader," Jan giggled.

"Almost as bad as a mind reader," Jean said. "But not quite. I still win." She grinned and waved at the boys. "Don't mind us."

"I'm not sure if I should try to break them up or commend Charles Xavier on excellent therapy with Jan," Steve muttered to Clint.

"Pretty sure we can't stop them now," Clint pointed out.

"Give them half a chance and they'll have someone else in their sights," Steve said before he shook his head and got up to head over to where Scott was working on an evacuation plan for Genosha. "I'll be with Scott if you need anything other than a target."

"We'll let you know if we need a catwalk!" Jan sang out gleefully.

* * *

And while the adults were taking the mickey out of each other, the kids were truly enjoying exploring Tony's homes. Of course, there was no way for the boys to get into the labs - not without getting around the security and Tony was very careful to ensure that they weren't going to do that. At all.

But that didn't mean there wasn't stuff for them to do.

At both the Avengers' place and this new place in Chicago there were things they could do in the gym to burn off energy. Of course, they weren't using things  _properly_ but they  _were_ using them - and enjoying them. And when they got tired of the gym, there was an  _amazing_ room that looked like it was just for watching movies.

But … there wasn't a good place for the girls to dance, and even if there was, their teacher, Miss Natasha was  _not_ in a good mood. She had a look on her face since they'd gotten there like she was ready to tell someone off - or something. And the little ones really didn't know what to do.

Well. Most of them didn't anyhow.

Natasha was walking very purposefully down the hall when Sam spotted her, and throwing caution to the wind, he darted after her, walking just as determinedly as she was until she paused and turned his way. "Sam?" she asked one eyebrow raised. "Shouldn't you be playing with the others?"

"No, ma'am," he said before he held out a drawing he'd clearly made. It wasn't the usual kiddie drawings of the group via stick figure art. This … was a drawing of a big black widow spider wearing a giant smile. "I just wanted to make sure that you knew how much I like your classes. Even if we can't have them here." He leaned closer. "That an' I know Kitty an' Paige are missin' em, so no offense to Mr. Iron Man, but … I think the little kids will be happy to be back to the school when it's all cleaned up."

Natasha took the drawing with a muted smile before she bent down slightly to look him in the face more clearly. "I miss our classes too," she said very quietly. "I tell you what, I'll make sure that Tony has a place ready for us to dance in the next house if we need another one."

Sam grinned up at her for that then rushed forward to wrap his arms around her neck in a hug. It wasn't exactly out of the norm for him either. Especially when Sam and Clint had taken such a shining to each other.

"Have you played with the other boys nicely today?" Natasha asked when she straightened up slightly.

Sam shook his head. "Petey was doin' okay - he played for a while anyhow, but Kurt … Kurt's a lil' bit down, I think. He keeps lookin' for someone to show up, but he hasn't told me who he was waitin' for."

Natasha frowned at that, and when she saw Kurt sitting outside looking entirely dejected, she went right to her favorite X-Man.

" _Malen'kiy dyadya_ ," Natasha said as she stepped into the room where Logan was clearly trying to get through some coffee while the kids that had been shadowing him were off doing other things. "I hate to interrupt your moment of peace -"

"You don't interrupt me, darlin'," Logan replied, removing his hand from over his eyes. "What's on your mind?"

She smiled softly and moved the chair closer so she could take his arm and lean her head on his shoulder. "I think your little elf friend is missing someone," she said. "He's been down - especially with you running solos."

Logan let out a breath at that. "Kid keeps losing people," he replied. "I'll take care of it." He turned to kiss Natasha's cheek and she smirked to herself as she leaned toward him for it and squeezed his arm.

When Logan found Kurt, it was pretty clear that Natasha was right. He was perched on one of the chairs on the balcony - staring out toward Lake Michigan from Tony's Chicago house with his arms around his knees and his tail positively drooped and still behind him.

He didn't say anything to start with - instead just joining him, taking a seat next to him and looking the same direction as he waited Kurt out. "I thought that I would see K by now," Kurt said finally, very quietly.

Logan was  _not_ expecting that at all. For a long moment, he tried to think of how to respond to that. And it wasn't until Kurt tucked his chin down to his knees that he finally managed to reply. "We're working on gettin' her to come with us," Logan said. "But you'd be doin' me a favor if you kept that to yourself."

"I'm not the only one that wants to know where she is," Kurt said, picking up his head and turning toward him. "Kitty talks about the time she spent with the  _two_ of you a lot."

Logan nodded at that. "We took a few days. She would talk about it."

"She had sent presents when I first got here, and now … I haven't seen anything in a while."

"We haven't been at Westchester in a while either," Logan pointed out. "She might have sent somethin'. She doesn't know where we are." The last part came out with a bitter taste since Logan knew that … was likely a lie. The woman seemed to know their every move. She'd managed to get in touch with Scott no matter how often the number was changed after the phone was destroyed. And seeing as Scott was using burner phones … that was an impressive bit of sneak.

"Then how will you get her back?" Kurt asked, looking concerned. "She has been getting kids in trouble, yet how can she get  _back_ to you if she doesn't know where you are?"

It was a moment that Logan absolutely wasn't prepared for. He didn't know how to tell the kid that K  _wasn't_ technically on their side - and whatever Kitty had interpreted from their time in Japan … as nice as it had been, it wasn't the truth.

But before he could properly reply, Kitty made her way out to the balcony to take Kurt's hand. "Will you please play with us?" she asked with a smile. "We were going to pretend pirates, and I know you like pirates best."

Kurt did a bit of a double take, but seemed to perk up slightly - his tail swaying gently behind him at the prospect of playing pirates with the Guthries. "Is Peter playing too?"

"Peter's working on his motor again," Kitty giggled, then rolled her eyes. "I think he wants Mr. Iron Man to  _adopt him_."

" _Lächerlich,_ " Kurt said, scoffing at the thought. "He's gone too much and his beard is silly."

Logan couldn't help but smirk at that - though it was clear that the kids were doing fine as they debated who out of the two teams would be best suited to adopt them each, though that only left Logan alone for a moment debating on how he could get K into the fold when he knew exactly what the hurdles were that they had to overcome.

He blew a breath out and got to his feet - headed for Stark's lab. He knew Tony had several devices he needed to test, and until now, Logan was against volunteering. But … the truth was, he wanted another chance to talk to the girl. And that wasn't going to happen if he couldn't see her when there  _weren't_ kids around.


	27. Greetings From Genosha

The news from the world leaders wasn't exactly encouraging. Yes, there were several nations that were strongly considering attacking Genosha, but for now at least, even Charles couldn't find any proof that they were going to actually move forward, and there was nothing in place ready to go.

Not that it helped the adults relax much. The fact that the Avengers were concerned over Tony and whatever mess he'd managed to get himself tangled up in wasn't very helpful either. And it didn't look like the Avengers realized that even the barely legal adults of the X-Men could see that they were distracted by it.

It wasn't until Tony had come in late to coffee - having been up half the night tinkering - that Jean found herself halfway watching him and  _wanting_ to take a peek in his head. Not … at everything, but just … to see where his head was  _at_. Was he working on his company? Gadgets for the Avengers? Upgrades to their comms? Or was he honestly overly wrapped up in this mystery woman? She glanced around the room and when she realized it was just the two of them, she really couldn't help herself but to reach out and very gently brush his mind.

Jean  _thought_ she was prepared for what she might find there … and though she had braced herself for a vivid showing of what might have transpired with the mystery woman, there were only flashes of her. And though it was flashes, she knew it was the right one even if it wasn't a complete image. But based on the waves of emotions surrounding her it was pretty clear that Janet was right - He was definitely interested in more than a fling with her.

Jean couldn't help but smile, especially when she realized he was  _purposely_ not focusing on his lady friend around her. Sure, he couldn't help but think about her, but he kept his focus on one or two details in regards to her, and frustratingly, it wasn't a complete image of her face - or anything else. The curve of her neck … the way she kissed … the way her eyes danced with trouble … and a whole lot of instances that focused on her legs …

But even with as tempting of a draw as that was to him, amazingly, he wasn't focused on just  _her_. Instead, the romance was intermixed with weaponry, explosions - chemical formulas and equations zipping past as Tony read the paper under his coffee mug and answered a message on his phone while simultaneously working out at least half a dozen different issues with various projects in his head. All of that in addition to everything surrounding this woman that was so clearly on his mind.

It was overload. And it was strong - but … Jean couldn't even say he was unfocused since it was clear enough to her that he was instead simply focused on everything at once. He wasn't bouncing between subjects, he was solving all of them at the same time. The man's mind was  _impressive._  And overwhelming for her. Which also made picking his secret lover's identity from him a daunting task.

Jean pulled back quietly, though she didn't quite control the expression on her face as she tried to figure out how to handle all of that  _amazing_ multitasking. There was no other way to put it. In fact, it had her wondering if it was just … Tony, or if he had some low level mutant ability that was superpowered by his natural genius.

But she really didn't have a way to bring it up to find out. She wasn't sure what to do, but thankfully, her train of thought was interrupted when Scott came in and stole a little kiss. He'd been incredibly busy with Steve working out evacuation plans - talking to a few sovereign nations that had already offered assistance when Steve had asked. But of course, none of them were willing to make a pre-emptive move. Only after the fact. Which wasn't much to ease any of their minds, but … it was something.

The kitchen was silent for several minutes before Rhodey broke the quiet and the ice in one fell swoop. "So, who's the girl, Tony?"

Tony looked taken off guard for just a moment. "Who told you?"

"Why won't  _you_ tell me?. Who is she?"

Tony picked up his coffee mug and simply started for his lab, not that it was any kind of a deterrent to Rhodey, who simply fell into step to follow him a step or two behind him. "I don't need an assistant today."

"Good for you," Rhodey said. "But you're not shaking me that easy. Why are you hiding her from me? Tony. This is  _me_ we're talking about. You don't ever hide stuff like that. Come on."

"It's not up for discussion."

"Yeah, okay, but now when you put it like that? I'm just getting more convinced that either you're fooling around with a known spy or criminal - or you've completely fallen for her."

"Oh, come on."

"Both then," Rhodey said, his tone even. "How bad is she? Like … your parents would disapprove of her like they did with Meredith or Sunset?"

"Rhodey-"

"Janice? Indries? Ru?  _Madame Masque_?"

" _No._ "

"Then just tell me or I'll keep listing them off," Rhodes said, crossing his arms. "It's not like you haven't left a laundry list to point out."

Tony let out a breath and shook his head. "I'm not gonna tell you just because Romanoff set you on me for it. No. Forget it."

Rhodey frowned, losing any of the good humor he'd had left as he leaned on the workbench. "She's that bad, huh?"

Tony gave him a dry look. "She's not bad." He paused and tipped his head. "Maybe a little. But not like that."

Rhodey sighed as if the entire weight of the world was on his shoulders. "This can't end well, Tony."

"Hey. That's not an accurate representatio- I mean, history, sure. Just … let it go."

"You know I can't do that, right?"

"No," Tony said slowly, turning to face Rhodey fully. "You can, you just don't want to. And though I appreciate the overprotective  _big brother_ thing, contrary to popular belief, I know what I'm doing here."

"Yeah, see, I've heard that before, Tony, and I've watched it blow up in your face, too. I'm just sayin' it'll be easier to help you pick up the pieces if I know what the situation is that gets you wrecked to start with."

"It's light," Tony said. "Nothing serious. Really."

"But you're keeping it a secret anyhow," Rhodey said with his chin tipped down. For a long while that was the end of the conversation as Rhodey watched his best friend work. "You want it to be more serious, don't you?" It came out more like a statement than a question, and Tony wasn't in the mood to even address it.

"I'm actually pretty happy with where it's at right now, to be honest," Tony said, straightening up. "And I think that in large part has a lot to do with no one being in the middle of things."

"Oh. Is that how it is," Rhodey said, nodding his head.

"Yep. That's how it is."

"Uh-huh. Sure. Okay, but see, now you've got my curiosity up. I'm gonna be nice and wait for you to pull your head out and talk to me about this. Because you know what? I know how to  _trust_ my friends."

"That's a nice guilt trip you're laying there."

"Not a guilt trip," Rhodey said, shaking his head as he turned to walk away. "Just the truth. You gotta trust your team, Tony. We're here to back you up - and not just on the field." Rhodey was almost to the door when he dropped one more bomb. "And even if it wasn't that? I'm calling best friend privilege here. If you've got some woman you're that wrapped up in, I want to  _meet_ your girl, Tony.  _Before_ I read about her in the papers."

Tony let his shoulders drop at that. "Let me just … figure out what's going on first, okay? It really is light right now."

Rhodey smirked and nodded at that. "Well at least that's admitting it. Step in the right direction." Tony couldn't help but match his smirk as he continued. "I want to hear about it."

"Okay." Tony said, nodding once before he went back to his work.

"I'm serious. Before the tabloids get a hold of it."

* * *

Meanwhile, K had gotten the go-ahead to move on to the next job. It wasn't recruits, instead, she was supposed to meet up with a rather large group of mutants that had managed to escape Latveria. Her entire job was to deliver them the contents of the briefcase that Vision had brought to her so that they could make safe passage to Genosha. Of course it wasn't without the most subtle teasing K had ever seen as he simply gave her a muted, amused smile with no commentary. "How long did it take Wanda to tell you?" K asked, looking over the paperwork.

"Not long," he replied. "And it's likely needed on both sides. I'm glad to see it. Though I suppose if he causes you any trouble or pain, then it's my duty as your brother to make him regret it."

K smirked and made her way over to kiss his cheek. "Always my hero."

"As your adopted brother, it's my job," he replied with that same little smirk in place. She squeezed his arm and couldn't help but to smile at him.

"Tell Wanda I'll see her soon. Hopefully with presents for the boys."

"They're already looking forward to your return," he promised before he left her to finish her work.

* * *

K had slept in first class on the flight to Romania. The little village she was headed to was in what was once Transylvania near the borders of both Latveria and Symkaria- and both countries were less than welcoming to mutants of any type, but only Latveria had the tech to identify them.

As K made her way through the streets of Bucharest - she was already making plans to return. The city itself was stunning with the crumbling architecture and charming roads. It had a definite sense of age to it that she found humbling. The overall feel of the area seemed to transport you back to much more simple - and still, somehow dangerous times.

When she got  _out_ of the city - and closer to the steep, tree covered slopes of the Făgăraș Mountains, she could see immediately why she was the right choice for this particular job. None of the others would know where to start in the vast landscape, and even if they knew where to begin, finding the hiding group would be next to impossible. She let out a little sigh and tried to go along with the shy flirting that her cab driver was attempting as they approached the base of Poenari Citadel - or the ruins of it. She wasn't surprised to hear that the place had history, she was however, more than a bit intrigued when she realized that the starting spot that the refugees had given was the last residence of Vlad the Impaler.

Her cabbie tried - just after she'd closed her door - to talk her into waiting until morning, but of course, K had things to do, so she gave him a hefty tip, slung her backpack and briefcase and started up the steps. At least until the cab driver was gone. From there, she slipped off the path that led up to the Citadel and then down the mountainside. Seeing as Vlad's castle was a tourist attraction, finding a decent scent - or group of scents while staying on the trails leading up to it would have been a waste of time.

It was just starting to get dark when she started her hike through the woods, circling out from the castle, at least down to the river at the bottom of the gorge - where the obvious evidence of tracks made it clear where she needed to go.

There were a few signs of wildlife the further she got from the public areas … and away from the road. She could smell bear and wolves that had crossed paths with the group of people, though with no sign of any actual conflicts between the people and the creatures, K simply kept going further into the woods. She was careful to watch her step, sticking to rocks that stuck out of the ground where she could, rolling her footfalls to remain silent where she couldn't.

And after a long hike - and a fairly simple river crossing, she found the group huddled around a small fire. Many of them were quite clearly physically mutated, and those that weren't - seemed to be parents of those that were. None of them saw her approaching until she was almost an arm's length behind one of them - and only then, it was a toddler that had looked up and smiled when she saw K.

The little girl's mother glanced up and gasped, causing a ripple in the refugees as most of them went right into 'defend'. K held up her hand and spoke what little Romanian she'd learned for this trip. " _Magneto ma trimis. Vă ajut să ajungeți la Genosha."_

For a moment, the group looked shocked, then half of them fell apart into relieved smiles and laughs, and K was forced to hold up both hands as a few of them started speaking at her in rapidfire Romanian. "Woah, I … that was all I know," she said. "I can do  _Svenska_ or  _Français … Deutsche … Español._ But no Romanian." She set the briefcase down and began to hand out the paperwork. Their names were already on them, so all she needed to do was to say each name - and the owner received all the travel papers they needed once they hit the Black Sea.

But as soon as everyone was squared away, K started to wonder if maybe the best course of action was to lead the way - and ensure that they were brought through safely. It might go a long way toward helping them if they needed to evacuate Genosha later.

K took a moment to get settled before she figured out who was supposed to be in charge - and pushed them to start moving their people. Moving under cover of darkness was hard on the kids, but it was also in their best interests as well. Which made it an easy sell.

The trek took nearly two weeks, but K managed to get them to the Black Sea without being seen - fairly impressive for the size of the group she was leading through the woods and past villages and cities.

It wasn't until they managed passage all the way to Genosha though, that she finally saw Pietro for the first time in several months. "How … how is it that my father hasn't yanked you back to the space station?" Pietro asked.

"I haven't been gone that long," K said, glancing at her comm. "I still have like … a week before I'm supposed to be back." She watched as the group passed them by, then took a few steps closer. "Has anyone from your old team gotten in touch with you?"

Pietro's smile slipped and he nodded. "Yes. I know what father as planned for us here. Which is why I'm surprised that  _you're_ here. I was sure he'd want his favorites close."

"He doesn't really  _know_ I'm here," K admitted. "Wanda talked him into giving me more room to breathe-"

"Oh, is that what you and Stark are calling it?" Pietro asked with a crooked smirk that had K turning his way with a look. "Relax. It's not like you're the first. Just tell me you're not falling for him. I don't know if I could stand to admit I know you if that's the case."

"You're ridiculous," K deadpanned.

"I'm also just glad he's not getting the chance to hit on my sister."

"Did he before?" K asked, turning his way with an interested expression.

Pietro shrugged. "Probably not any more than he hit on anyone else." He couldn't help but smirk a little bit more crookedly. "Why do you ask?"

"Pure curiosity," K replied before she shoved him in the shoulder and he broke into a grin. "Do you have an escape plan?"

"Working on it," he replied low, losing his teasing tone slightly. "Wakanda has agreed to take in as many as they can when it happens, Cap is working on more, I know. It'll be fine if we have any early warning at all."

"And will you?"

He smirked and tapped a comm at his waist. "You know Wanda and I are in close contact. She's furious."

"And he hasn't called you back yet," she surmised.

"Nope. I think the old man's finally cracked and wants to kill me."

"How about we don't let that happen?"

"I would prefer that it didn't go down that way," he agreed. "But, as Cap said - once an Avenger, always an Avenger. They've got our backs, and I'm sure it'll be figured out before it's a problem."

"I'm very sure the X-Men will be joining them when it does happen."

"Absolutely," he agreed with a smirk. "Keep going the way you are and you'll be on one of those teams before you know it. I'll bet Stark would put in a good word for you…."

" _Shut. up."_

Pietro was cackling as they made their way toward the citadel as the refugees went through processing.

* * *

Erik had planned on K going circling through the mediterranean before returning to Avalon, so her absence for such a long stretch wasn't enough to raise his alarms. And the pressure he'd been putting on several strongly anti-mutant countries was finally showing. Latveria in particular was ready to fight - and Victor Von Doom had been vocal in how he wasn't going to allow anyone to interfere in any way with  _his_ citizens.

Erik had been loudly accusing Von Doom of not letting news into the tiny country - and of ostracizing the mutants that lived there, all while Von Doom insisted that there  _were_ no mutants in his country.

The heated back and forth flew into accusations - but when Erik released footage of Von Doom's own men lining up mutants for prison camps or worse, that was all that the UN needed to press Von Doom, and all that Von Doom needed to strike back. Finally. Only, he didn't hit Genosha alone. All of Latveria's closest allies joined in the attack.

* * *

The air raid sirens went off shortly  _after_ Pietro had started his evacuation of Genosha. Wanda had called him up not an hour before the strike had been launched from Latveria, and the moment she did, he'd gotten moving. It was just happenstance that K was there at the time of the attack.

Of course, instead of evacuating, K dove in to help. She'd called up Scott's personal line, though he couldn't hear what she was saying beyond the sirens blaring in the background and people screaming in pure terror. Not that K wasn't close to joining them either. This was, by her best memory, the first time she'd been caught up in a bombing. And she honestly wasn't sure what to do with herself outside of ensure that the littlest ones that were living in Genosha were the first to the beach where King Namor had already started evacuating who he could to Atlantis.

But it wasn't just bombs that the mutants of Genosha had to deal with as Sentinels and paratroopers began to come in as well - and not all of them were wearing Latveria's colors.

As the kids tearfully went with the Atlanteans, K rushed forward to start cutting through the special forces soldiers that were already starting to land. Their parachutes were folding over as they hit the ground and they were focused on trying to  _stop_ the kids from leaving with Namor's men.

The first few soldiers weren't expecting K to fight back like she was at all - but it was the fact that she was trying to keep them from killing kids and other civilians that got her into trouble. She could handle the soldiers. The more the merrier when she was this furious, but they were still pressing in and trying to kill the kids - and even with as vicious as K was - there were still some losses. And the few that were getting hurt was severely messing with K's ability to fight properly.

The Sentinels were being fought off by whomever had any kind of power - but without someone like Magneto to twist their wiring around, the sentinels were still doing a good job of killing people left and right.

It was a long, bloody battle and by the time the Avengers and the X-Men showed up, Pietro was worn and injured and K was starting to wear down. By that time, the beach was cleared. Atlantis had taken the kids and a large number of women and elderly and simply ushered them to safety - though the men that had come to gather them for the trip had no interest in joining the fight.

K had taken out one of the nastier sentinels as the jets for the Avengers and X-Men came in, but she wasn't up to many more. The losses had been heavy and she'd taken a lot of damage already - most of it was healed, but with all she was putting out, the healing was taking a toll - and moving a lot slower than she was used to.

All of that was apparent to the heroes when Scott called out to ask if K was okay and she didn't have the breath to even begin to answer him, instead only managing to nod as she kept fighting.

Tony flew by - his sensors already scanning the field at large and reporting back on the comms. "There's only a fraction of the people here that were here this morning," Tony said. "But the body count I'm finding is nowhere near what it should be to make up the numbers."

"That's good," Steve replied as he fought with a small group of soldiers, working his way toward the center of the trouble. "That just means that they started the evacuation early."

Scott and Steve had been working their way closer to where K was in an attempt to help her hold back the sentinels when they got close enough to actually  _see_ the kind of fight she was putting up. Of course, outside of the fight in the tower for Steve, it was really the first time that the Avengers had seen her in action. Scott and the X-Men had run across K fighting against sentinels or soldiers in the past - but this was much more focused than even they were used to seeing, and it didn't miss Logan's notice on what she was doing. Particularly when he came across a rather small body on the beach.

"She's been guarding kids," Logan called out through the coms, though he couldn't get closer to her from where he was working through a handful of sentinels. "Looks like Atlantis got  _most_ of them out."

Scott swore under his breath at hearing 'most' then locked his jaw and pressed forward. He couldn't imagine how K was on her feet for as attached to kids as she got - and if she was there to see the little ones on the beach die … he knew she had to have been giving it her all for a long time at this point. And she couldn't possibly keep it up for much longer.

As Tony got caught up with detonating some bombs long before they  _should have_ blown on the field, Steve bashed through a group of soldiers, trying to get close enough to shout at K to confirm out where the kids were.

As he almost reached her, a loud ringing clang echoed as one of the sentinels bashed K across the battlefield and directly into the middle of the fray. When she hit the ground, she skidded and tumbled until she hit the corner of the base of a sculpture depicting Erik. She arched her back and let out a sound of pain from the hard hit before she tried to get her bearings, and before she could get anywhere near upright, she was shot in the thigh - and again in the opposite shoulder from different directions. She was down on one knee as she looked up to see the soldiers approaching - rifles raised. She couldn't get to either of them, and they were closing in. And what was worse, they were firing at her every few steps - and making solid hits at her joints until she was barely upright and half leaned over. The moment she started to raise an arm, a bullet ripped through the joint at her shoulder making that impossible - especially when it ricocheted against the adamantium bones.

"Get her out of there!" Scott shouted, pushing harder now that he could see from his angle that the troops around K were pulling out restraints, which only meant they were out to recover her. And seeing as she was already out of the fight and going down fast - it was just a matter of time if they didn't stop it.

None of them were quite close enough, and though Tony fired off a few self guided rounds that were intended to flatten anyone in their path, he couldn't get  _close_. Steve was making progress on the ground - but not fast enough, and Scott was drawn away from that fight when it was clear that Logan was in a similar boat.

K tried again to get upright, only to have her knees shot out from under her. She was in pain, and she was more or less helpless as she ended up barely propped up and trying to avoid going face down entirely. Through the din of the fight, she could hear the men approaching. She couldn't stop the growl as the soldiers got closer - all the while, carefully placing shots when she managed to do anything that might let her raise an arm for a moment, and when the two got close enough, both of them fired twice. One double tapped her in the chest, the other in the back of her head.

Scott had seen what had happened - but just out of the corner of his eye. He took a few quick steps toward K - his hand raised to his visor just as he heard a similar shot pattern coming from where Logan was - and when he turned his head, it was clear they were doing exactly the same thing to him.

He watched as Logan went down to his knees - unable to stand as round after round quickly hit him at the shoulders and knees - keeping him from defending himself and before he could even think about it, Scott snatched the visor off and simply gave it to the soldiers headed toward Logan full bore. They didn't stand a chance - and as a result, Logan didn't get those last few shots like K did. Not with Scott making sure no one got within twenty yards of him.

The soldiers stayed back from K just far enough so that one of them could kick her lightly to see if she was moving - or breathing - with the other held a bead on her head should she move again. They seemed to realize that they were wildly lucky to have even a little cover between themselves and Cyclops seeing as he was so preoccupied in defending Wolverine. The second soldier slung his rifle over his shoulder and moved forward, sure to put a knee in the center of K's back as he pulled her hands back to cuff her. He'd only gotten one cuff on though before he was blasted clear of her. The distinct lack of red during the blast had them confused, but when the high-pitched whine of Iron Man's repulsors were heard at close range just before they both lost their guns, they figured it out fast. A moment later, Tony was taking heavy fire from the troops as Steve rushed forward from behind them, bare knuckle brawling his way to the still not-breathing little feral. .

Between the two Avengers, it was a wicked one-two punch, and once Steve got close enough he put the shield away, he picked K up as Tony targeted the men's weapons.

The comms were all business - as it should have been - as those with better vantage points tipped off those without on what was going on - and where they were dealing with trouble still.

When the sentinels tried to take off en masse, Tony found himself rushing a landing as Storm made the wind and lighting pick up - though that only had Thor grinning appreciatively at her display before he dove in as well.

In less than an hour, the two teams of heroes had effectively ended the attack on Genosha. Already, Wakanda had started to show with transports for those that didn't already have children in Atlantis. And the Avengers were left with not only a still unconscious and badly injured K - but a wickedly battered Quicksilver as well.

"Let's take them back to New York," Steve suggested as he carried K toward the jet. I'm sure Pietro will have plenty to tell us when he comes around."

"And this might be our best chance to have a word with her, too," Scott said. "Maybe we can convince her."

"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not bring the two of them to Westchester," Steve said, though when half of the X-Men looked like they were ready to argue it, Steve tipped his head before he continued. "I just think that it's a bad idea to take them where the kids are. Magneto doesn't need to know what the full story is on who's where - or to have more proof we're working together."

"We won't lock her up," Tony said, tipping his head to the side slightly and sure to let his tone go completely dry. "And visiting hours are 9:00am to 8:30pm..."

"Tony…."

"... unless you have special circumstances .."

"You're hilarious."

"Seriously. I have a containment barrier that Logan's been helping me with," Tony said, holding up one hand. "Kinda like a bubble. She won't know it's there until she tries to get out of it, then she'll just … stop."

"Won't that be dangerous to everyone else?" Steve asked with a frown.

"Only if everyone else has metal bones. It's the metal that'll stop it. I even tried it with an old suit. Stops them cold." Tony looked over at Scott with his eyebrows raised. "Might be a good thing to use to keep sentinels from picking up kids … won't let them get within reach of them. I'll bet I can expand the radius on it. As it stands, it'll withstand anything they throw at it. I designed it to hold up , so I'm pretty sure the sentinels aren't going to ding it."

"But non-metallic …"

"Yeah, it's not a full on force field," Tony said. "Isolation is what I made it for."

"Just … try to talk her into staying voluntarily," Scott said almost wearily. "Storm already said she'd stick with the escort to go to Wakanda and make sure they aren't bothered. She has ties there."

"Great," Steve said, letting his shoulders drop slightly. "We'll take these two to the Avenger's mansion, get them patched up, and find out if they'll tell us more than we know already. I know for a fact Pietro was pretty fed up with everything going on with his Dad, so he'll speak up."

"And maybe having him there will get her to … I don't know,  _not_  bolt right away," Tony added with a little frown that made it seem that he was every bit as tired of having to chase down K that Scott was.

"If you need any help …"

"Don't worry," Steve said as he readjusted how he was carrying her. "We'll let you know as soon as we get her talking."

* * *

From Romanian:

 _Magneto ma trimis. Vă ajut să ajungeți la Genosha._  - Magneto sent me. I'll help you get to Genosha


	28. Meeting The Captive

 

As soon as K and Pietro were loaded up on the jet, Clint and Jan went to securing them for the flight - and starting the scans to see if there was any tracers or bugs on them - or in K's case, how many bullets she was stuck with under the healed skin.

When they found the tracers, instead of destroying them, Clint tossed them out of the hatch so they could remain on Genosha while Tony and Steve got the jet into the air.

Natasha had appointed herself as guardian over the whole clean up operation, and was simply keeping track of who needed what - and handing the supplies to either Clint or Jan as they cleaned up the injuries on Pietro and the blood off of K.

Jan looked almost wary as she cleaned K up - though when Natasha stepped forward to tighten the restraints on K's hands and feet, Jan shook her head. "That's not … you don't need to do that."

"I think I do," Natasha replied. "I've read her file about her - or what I could find. She's a piece of work, and I don't think it's smart to be that close to her unrestrained when she does wake up after how they took her down." Natasha gave Jan a soft sort of smile that didn't entirely reach her eyes. "I can take over here if you're uncomfortable."

"No," Jan replied quickly. "No, I've got it, thanks. Really."

"You're sure?"

Jan nodded with a much more confident sounding 'mm-hmm' as she gave Natasha a smile and went back to cleaning up the blood on K. "Healers are so hard to judge about these things," Jan said, already trying to brush it off. "I can't tell if the blood is hers or someone else's."

"Judging by how she was fighting - and the number of bullets we're going to have to get out of her? Probably pretty even," Natasha said, though that only had Jan frowning at K's torn up clothes.

"Yeah. that … should be interesting. Beast will meet up at the Avengers' HQ to deal with this, won't he?"

"I believe that's the plan, yes," Natasha agreed. "Once the X-Men have all been cleared - seeing as there isn't anything life threatening here. He already gave Pietro a once over."

And while the women were discussing things in the back of the plane, Tony was absolutely paying close attention to the discussion at hand, and doing everything he could to keep from completely busting himself out when he  _knew_ that K was okay. Relatively speaking. Especially since it was her idea to keep it quiet - he was trying to respect that much at least. And he was lucky that Jean wasn't anywhere near him because he could hardly focus on flying the jet when he was that  _shell shocked_  from all that he'd seen.

The truth was, the Avengers had seen all kinds of miserable situations, but most of them were wrapped around Hydra and their bid for power. They weren't used to seeing little kids in the crosshairs and most of them in the jet were a little out of it, so no one was drawing too much attention by not teasing or picking.

They weren't at the mansion more than an hour before Beast showed up and got to work. Pietro really only needed some pain killers, but K was a trickier case. After a long barrage of X-rays and some careful consideration, to how her vitals were showing, he didn't really have much of a choice but to put an inhibitor collar on her, sedate her, and simply start removing bullets.

Both Tony and Steve watched through the observation window as Hank pulled out crushed round after crushed round until the hollow thunk of lead or copper on stainless steel wasn't so prominent - the spent rounds simply piling up on each other. He stitched up the spots that needed it - even if they wouldn't once the collar was off, and when he was finally done, Tony showed him where he could put the little woman to recover.

Once she was in a bed - though still in a hospital gown - Steve turned Tony's new device on to keep her in the room and Hank laid it out for them after he'd ran his hand over his face. "I'm very sure she'll recover much like Logan. She'll need plenty of protein and water when she wakes up to make up for everything her body is robbing from her stores. She'll likely be weak, dizzy, and worn until she refuels." He paused and gave them both a look. "Having said that -I should caution you ... it will slow her recovery down if you don't give her enough protein. She won't be able to rebuild the muscle lost until she gets it."

"Got it," Tony said, nodding. "Nice to know there are rules on how to feed a feral."

Steve let out a sigh as he gave Tony a dry look, though he somehow missed the almost anxious strain around his eyes.

"Additionally," Hank continued with a smirk. "She was shot in the head as well. Though the bullet was unable to pierce her adamantium covered skull, I can guarantee that there was damage to her brain. When she wakes up, she will likely have part of her memory missing. There's no way to tell which part, but … just be prepared for a very confused young lady."

At that, both of them looked concerned. "Will it come back?"

"I'm not sure," Hank said. "I can ask Logan to see what he knows, but … even for as similar as their mutations are, the rules may not be the same from one to the other."

"Let us know," Tony said before he turned and stole a peek at where K was sleeping soundly. "It'd be nice to know what we've got on our hands here."

"Keep me abreast of her condition and I'll be sure to help her her squared away," Hank promised before he simply left them with her. For a moment both Tony and Steve looked into the room where K was covered up in bed and sleeping.

"Well," Tony said, breaking the silence, "she's not going anywhere. I'll get the AI to monitor her. Even if she pretends to sleep, we'll know if she's awake."

Steve let out a breath and let his shoulders relax. "Good. I'm going to check on Pietro. He already woke up. Jan's with him now.."

Tony nodded his agreement and the two men parted ways - but Tony quickly turned around to walk backward to be sure Steve was continuing on his path before he darted forward and slipped into K's room just to check on her. He took a moment to double check that she  _wasn't_ tied down, especially since Natasha clearly was watching her closely. But as soon as he knew she was alright, he let out a little breath and set up a camera - both to see when she woke up and to see who else was going to poke their noses in before he returned. He rested his hand on hers for a moment, encouraged slightly when her thumb barely moved across his fingers. But that was already more than he could have blown off, and he honestly didn't want to bust her out like that. Not when she'd already given him a look over both Jan and Steve walking in.

He gave her hand a little squeeze before he stepped back and checked that his camera was working on the bedside table then blew out a sigh as he turned to leave.

* * *

In Westchester, news of the attack on Genosha was already hitting the news - though the footage they showed completely made it look as if the mutant island nation was entirely wiped out.

But not long into the broadcast, Logan's attention totally shifted as he watched the footage. Scott came in a few minutes later as Logan was leaning on the table clearly more interested in what was being broadcast. "What's the story?" Scott asked just as Logan was slowly shaking his head.

"The angle."

"Yeah? What about it?" Bobby asked, stepping in a few seconds after Scott.

"The only way they could have gotten that shot is if they were using the cameras on the sentinels," Logan said, which had Scott narrowing his eyes behind his glasses.

"That doesn't exactly surprise me," Scott said flatly.

"No, but it is the first time they've been sloppy about it," Logan said. Scott looked thoughtful as the three men watched, looking for patterns and trying to decipher how deep Magneto had his claws into the press when Jean came into the kitchen with a large box.

"It's a good thing the construction was done when it was … this was at the front door," Jean said as she set it down on the table - and Logan and Scott shared a look before Logan slid a claw through the cardboard to open it.

"It wasn't wet, so it couldn't have been there more than a day," Jean said as Logan moved the packing out of the way to reveal the treasure trove that K had sent the kids from her little backpacking trip through Romania. There was the usual massive amount of candy and sweets, and as always each of the kids got a little book. Most of them featured a cartoon vampire named Vladut - and with a little digging - yep, she'd even found several Vladut dolls for the littlest. The bigger kids got snowglobes and the girls got very pretty blouses that were a tiny bit too big, but Jean was sure they'd love all the same for as pretty as they were.

"This is exactly what the kids needed," Bobby said with a little smirk in place. "They're going to freak out."

"They will," Jean agreed. "Want to help me hand it out to them? Scott - come by in a little bit so you can read them the story."

"Sure, I'll be there in just a few minutes," Scott promised. He watched the news with Logan for a little bit longer before the sound of celebrations echoed down the hall, and both he and Logan smirked. "I guess we should head down to the kids. See what the fuss is about."

"Probably a good idea. I'll ask Nat to see if she can find out who supplied this feed when she gets here," Logan agreed as they headed down the hall to where the kids were positively mobbing Jean and Bobby in the game room. All of the kids were there and excitedly passing around sweets and gifts alike - as fast as Jean and Bobby could hand them off to the right people. Though Kurt reached right by both of them to yank out the polaroid K had dropped into the box of herself holding the little dracula doll with Bran Castle in the background.

That was a new addition that the kids were quickly gathering around - along with the note that Jean began to read to them. "She says  _I'll try to send things more often, but this was the first that I was somewhere interesting enough to want to share with you. The castle in the picture was where Dracula's story was based, so I thought you kids would want a little vampire from Transylvania to play with. Be Good._ " She'd signed it with a simple but quick 'K' and though the kids were glad for the package, Kurt wasn't sharing that photo.

The little blue elf looked positively hopeful, though his tail was wrapped around his own ankle as he looked at the photo. Logan came to a stop behind him but didn't say anything as the other kids inspected the vampire doll. "I thought she would  _visit_ ," Kurt said softly.

"She was in the big fight we went to," Logan admitted. "She was trying to save a bunch of kids."

Kurt nodded, but didn't say anything further, which only had Logan's shoulders dropping before he picked him up and took him away from the hubbub of the excited kids to try and find a way to ease the little Elf's mind.

* * *

What no one had planned on was the simple fact that it was Jan who was nearby when K finally began to wake up. She wasn't sure what to think about the little feral, but she knew she had a bone to pick with her. And she knew she didn't want any of the boys around for it either, even if every single one of them wanted to be.

Jan had no doubt that they were all lurking nearby - or watching as she sat up straighter in the chair along the wall in K's room.

Of course, K had no idea how to react as the familiar floral aldehyde combination hit her nose. She couldn't help but smirk at the scent, but once she opened her eyes and saw Jan just - sitting there, looking  _almost_ calm, even if her scent was full of notes that screamed of how nervy and anxious she was. K sat up slowly, very conscious of the fact that she wasn't wearing … well. Much. Her jeans were long gone and by the way the sheets felt on her legs, she'd been in bed for a while. She knew she was at Tony's place in New York … but she couldn't shake what she'd just been through either.

K brushed her hair behind her ear, but didn't move from the bed - only sitting up and keeping to herself as she tried to take in what exactly was even happening. But before she could ask, Jan waved the tips of her fingers and clearly put on as much of a smile as she could.

"Hi, I'm Jan," she said softly.

K nodded at that. "I know who you are," she replied as she shifted slightly, drawing her knees up in front of her under the blanket. "Chanel number five?" K asked, trying to get a better feel of what Jan was doing.

"What?"

K gestured to her with one hand, though her voice shook slightly when she spoke. "Your perfume. It's Chanel number five, right?"

Jan relaxed slightly and almost reflexively smiled. "Yes, actually. It's a favorite."

"And a classic." K agreed. "It compliments you."

Jan watched her for a moment, her brow furrowed slightly before she finally cleared her throat lightly. "Well. I wanted to make sure you had something to wear," she said as she got to her feet and then quickly gestured to a little stack of clothes on the dresser. "Those hospital gowns … I know it's awkward to even try and get comfortable in them."

"Thank you," K replied, though she didn't make a move yet. Not when Jan was so clearly wringing her hands. But it wasn't until K pulled back the covers and let her feet slip over the edge of the bed and stayed there for a moment that Jan spoke up.

"How … how did you  _know_  what was going on with Hank?" Jan asked softly. "I mean. Clint told me why you did what you did. Kind of. You knew. And I don't know how you knew, and even though I shouldn't have, I was trying to cover for him.  _I was_. And I know that what he did was awful, but I really loved him, and I just … I couldn't get him to see me. I know he shouldn't have done that, and I'm still hurt, and I don't … I don't expect you to get that. I just … I need to know how you  _knew._ "

K watched her for a moment and let her get through the rush of explanations and questions that Jan clearly couldn't hold back before she rearranged herself, crossing her ankles and angling so that she was facing Jan more squarely. K nodded and drew in a deep breath and crossed her hands before she rested them on her knees. It was almost a relief to have something to focus on that wasn't the death and destruction of Genosha - even if this was still highly uncomfortable. "Part of what I do is to pay close attention to everyone around me," K started to say. "And I saw the mark from when he hit you - his ring-" She gestured to her own face, lightly touching her cheekbone where Hank's ring had made a mark.

"His ring left an impression," Jan finished, nodding her head, her eyes wide at the memory. "But that doesn't … that doesn't explain how you knew it wasn't the first time …"

K nodded slowly and didn't drop her gaze from Jan. "You weren't outwardly bothered by it," K said. "Your reaction was to hide it and try to act like it never happened - or that it was part of the fight. And I've seen enough women that have been through that …"

Jan frowned at that and K held up a hand. "My mother … she… When my dad died, she had no way to support us girls, we were dirt poor, losing everything in the middle of the winter …  _we didn't even have shoes_. And … mom fell for a guy."

Jan settled in, her shoulder nearest K dipping down slightly as she listened. "So she had to put up with it," Jan said, but K shook her head at that.

"He was nice at first. Treated her well. Did what he could to warm up to us, too. And then they got married, and everything changed. His good humor slipped away quickly, and he drank more and more," K said, her tone going a little quieter. "And one day, Mom was cleaning up around the house - she tried so hard to make sure everything was neat so there was no reason for a fight - and he came in, stomping dirt all over the floor. She didn't do much to rile him. She just … sighed and shook her head at the mess and the next thing any of us knew - she was on the ground with a busted lip. That was the  _first_ time."

By that point in the story, Jan was almost entirely still, her lips slightly parted as she listened to what K had to say.

"My sister and I were pretty shocked, and we rushed to take care of her and that first time she was so upset and embarrassed and  _hurt_ by what he'd done. She was shaken for a few hours, and I could see that she considered leaving - and taking us with, but then he apologized, and he laid it on thick and was  _so sweet_ to her. She thought it made up for what he'd done, and she let it go. And it happened again. And again - and every time it did, she'd get less upset about it. She'd blame herself more for it, thinking she had it coming. And every time he'd be less and less sweet to her afterward." K held Jan's gaze for a long while at that. "I'm sorry that I lost my temper. I took it too far, and it wasn't my intention. When I see that same pattern, I can't … it triggers something. And I remember what it was like to feel helpless and small while some guy worked over my mom. You're a  _hero_. You deserve better than that."

Jan blinked a few times before she let her frame almost crumple in on herself, and she shook her head quickly. "I - I really thought … I was leaving. I was. And I … I'm glad you told me," she said, her voice getting a bit quieter. "I'm sorry about the idiot your mom married. I guess I'd be mad too…"

K took a moment to weigh it out. "Wanda told me a little bit - but I won't downplay it. I did some digging on Dr. Pym. I really only wanted to clean his clock and let him walk around with a backhand print. But … even if you would have left, he would have still found a way to use the connections you made for him. He would have tried to keep you down. It never would have been a clean break. Not when he was using your company to fund his work."

Jan nodded slowly. "It… was a shock," she admitted. "I didn't want him dead. I wanted him to see me, that's all."

"It really wasn't my intention to start with," K said. "But a guy like that will only  _ever_ see how the world bends around himself. They're too wrapped up in themselves to even begin to see the forest for the trees."

Once more, Jan nodded, her arms wrapped around herself. "I've worked with Professor Xavier and Jean… seen a lot more of what I was missing before - well,  _ignoring_ before. And I'm not saying that - well, I didn't want him dead, but I … I just wanted to talk to you because if you really just…" She let out a breath. "I don't think it's worth locking you up, you know. What happened. Not - not with what you just told me."

"I'm sorry to have put you in that position. And it's nice to hear that it's not a full hatred thing, but what happens to me? That decision isn't up to you. Thank you. But …I know that's not your call."

"No, but Steve said he'd give me a say," Jan said, straightening herself up slightly. "And - well - it's  _really_ hard to hate someone when they bring the  _cutest_ kids to hang out and Pietro's an old teammate and I'm glad he's alive and … well…"

"He likes the same taffy that the kids do," K said. "And he was sure to inspect the package that got sent up to Avalon."

"Oh, is that your secret?" Jan asked, some of her usual sparkle coming back with a light laugh.

"With Pietro or the kids?" K asked, smirking lightly. "Yes for one of those. The other is just because it's nice."

Jan smiled and shook her head. "Well, we haven't told the kids we brought you here, because… well… you weren't in very great shape and they're still back home but you know… they'd really like to see you or at least hear from you more. I mean, Kurt is really,  _really_ attached…"

"I sent them a package when I was in Romania," K said. "Or passing through it. It should be there soon-ish. If it's not already." She shook her head. "Kind of surprised they're even looking."

"You made a big difference in their lives." Jan smiled lightly. "That's not really something you forget, you know. And they all know you, so every new K story is like… candy." She shook her head. "You're a legend over there."

"Now you're overselling it," K said as she finally got to her feet and made her way over to the little stack of clothes on the dresser. "I hope you don't mind … like you said, the gown isn't much of a gown," K said as she turned her back to Jan and simply slipped the hospital gown off.

Jan had of course, turned her head when K dropped her gown, but at that pronouncement, she glanced up to set her straight, though her response fell flat when K tossed her hair revealing the birthmark on her right shoulder blade … that matched up exactly with the one Steve had described on Tony's mystery lover.

K quickly pulled the t-shirt over her head before she turned to face Jan, though on seeing the grin, she couldn't help but pause. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, no, yeah, I'm fine," Jan said quickly. "I was just - not … expecting… anyway!" She shook her head and painted on another smile. "Hank said you should probably eat. Like, a lot."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," K said. "But I'm sure there's something that'll keep me where I'm supposed to be. So."

"True. So I'll - I'll totally make sure your waiter is cute," Jan said, a little giggle escaping despite herself before she held a hand up. "You just wait here. I'll get him." With that, she took off, still grinning to herself - and made a beeline for Tony.

Thankfully, Tony was apart from the others when she found him - and hit him in the arm. " _I know everything,_ " she said in a hissed whisper.

"You know …  _what_? What is it you think you know?" Tony asked with a little frown.

"She's totally your type, Tony," Jan said, her eyes wide. "Why -  _why_ -do you like women who can kill you? Why is this a thing? Do you have a death wish? Should I be concerned? Is this like some kind of weird psychosis that you should be talking to my therapists about, because I have great ones, you know."

Tony was shaking his head lightly at her, though he couldn't quite stop the smirk. "You're making a big deal out of this. Come on. Keep it down - and by the way - how did you … did she tell you?"

"No, I figured it out myself, athankyouverymuch," Jan said, drawing herself up slightly before she broke into a smile. "I mean, I can see now why you're all secretive, but Tony -  _Tony_!"

"Hey. I'm being quiet because she asked me to," Tony said, holding up both hands.

"Yeah, um, about that," Jan said. "We need to get her on our side quick, because I swear, Tony, I got part of her life story and if things weren't so weird with the Hank thing I would have hugged her. She's not half bad."

"She's not bad period," Tony said. "She just thinks she is."

"Well, the way Pietro tells it, Magneto's gone completely filicidal so… get rid of him and your  _secret lover_ problem is solved, yeah?"

"Yeah, she doesn't really like to talk shop too much," Tony said. "But she did say he was pushing to make sure the kids she gets out are  _only_ mutants. Not a great way to keep her happy, either."

Jan pulled a face. "Yeah, no. That's gotta stop."

Tony smirked crookedly. "She's cute though, don't you think?"

Jan laughed and then hit him in the arm. "Yes, of course. But come on. You gotta get her to  _stay_ or you're going to keep doing that - that  _thing_ you do where you just…"

"What? What thing" Tony asked, frowning at her and tipping his chin down to his chest.

"This thing where you get  _attached_ and it's always to someone you  _can't_ get attached to and Tony!" Jan threw her arms around him in a hug that he was quick to return. "She's cute, but she's also, like, forcibly employed by a guy who's tried to kill us and  _you_ very specifically a few times now!"

"And she's been sure to get us warning - and even set me up with that crazy alien tech," Tony said. "She's working around him as best she can."

"I know, but I'm just…" Jan let out a breath. "Just… be careful. There's a reason she hasn't come on our side yet, and it's not just because of what happened with Hank."

"No. It's also because Magneto can yank her back and find her using her skeleton," Tony pointed out.

"Yeah." Jan made a face. "Okay, so. I'm not saying I'm totally on board, but… I will absolutely help you find a way to get rid of her side man," she said, breaking into a teasing grin.

"Oh. my. God. Don't … no." Tony scrubbed both hands over his face at that, making almost a groaning noise. "Why do you have to say things that paint the wrong kinds of pictures?" Tony went through a full body shiver and gave her a look. "You know I need to ask a favor now, right? You gotta keep this to yourself until she says otherwise."

Jan put a hand on her heart. "I won't tell anyone unless it's an  _emergency_ ," she swore. "Like… if her  _side man_ finds out about you or something."

Tony let out a groan and rested both hands on her shoulders. "Please, don't call him that."

Jan smirked and then kissed his cheek. "Well, we better hurry up and beat him so I don't have a reason to call him that, huh?" she said before she flounced off, waving over her shoulder. "Oh! I told her I'd send a cute waiter. That'd be you. Have fun!"

"Thank you," Tony called back to her, one eye closed as he shook his head at the whole situation, though as soon as she was gone, Tony asked Jarvis to pull something together that met up with what Hank had suggested. Of course, he was tapping his fingers on the tabletop waiting to see how good Jan was going to be about distracting the other Avengers.

Tony had just come up with a plan of action when Natasha leaned into the open doorway. "I'm going to run a little recon for Cap. I want to interrogate her when I get back. Don't let anyone in there."

"Of course not," Tony said, frowning lightly as he watched Natasha head off. As soon as she was gone, he leaned back in his chair - watching her retreat until the front doors closed, and as soon as they did, Tony popped up on his feet and headed off as quickly as he could to make sure he others were preoccupied while he snuck down to steal a few minutes with K.


	29. After Genosha

K had watched as the door closed behind Jan, and as soon as she was alone in the room, she took a moment to spin on her toes slowly, taking the whole place in. it was a large room with tall ceilings and a window that looked out into an almost grotto-like garden even in the middle of the city like it was. It was a peaceful and quiet setting … which was exactly the kind of thing she needed to slowly start to remember more of what had happened on Genosha.

She could see flashes of it in her mind's eye – the bombs and missiles when they first started to fall, were of course, the most dominant image. She knew Pietro had taken her off her feet. She knew she'd watched as people screamed and panicked. But after that … she couldn't remember what had happened. Not really. Clearly the Avengers had shown up. But that part of the fight was just … blank. Which meant she'd been hurt pretty badly if she couldn't remember it.

She made her way over to the window to look out at the garden. She pulled her hair over one shoulder and began to fiddle with the ends as she tried to remember what she'd misplaced of the battle, but all she could remember was the bombs. And the terror. So by the time that Tony got there -acting the part of cute waiter, just as Jan had said – K was almost holding her breath.

She turned when she caught his scent – which was only a second or two before he'd stepped in the door. "You caught me again," K said as Tony set down the tray, which of course had a large bottle of water. "You guys are totally screwing my average."

"We didn't exactly catch you," Tony replied with a crooked smirk that faltered almost immediately.

"Then I must have gotten hit harder than I thought," she replied a little quieter.

"You okay? 'Cause honey - I saw what happened to you on Genosha."

"You're being dramatic." K shrugged half-heartedly as he came closer. "I'm fine, probably. I don't remember seeing you there. Or any of the other Avengers. Though clearly ..." she gestured around herself and let the sentiment fall. Tony frowned at that, and pulled her into a tight embrace that she almost pulled back from if it wasn't the fact that she could scent out exactly how stressed out he was.

"Are  _you_ okay?" K asked, simply putting her arms around him and settling in. "I get beat up often enough. It's not that unusual, really." When he didn't let up, she clarified with the slight shake back in her voice. "I mean … yeah, that was the first  _bombing_ I've been in ..."

But that only got him to let out a breath and readjust his grip to hold her a little tighter. " _I'm_  fine," Tony said as K frowned slightly at his reaction and honestly snuggled into him better. She relaxed into him before he pulled back enough to steal a kiss. "I don't know what the right thing to do here is," Tony admitted. "Do I tell you what happened? Or am I supposed to wait for it to come back to you – let you watch the footage ..." He was holding her head in his hands, clearly looking for more than simple direction. "I just don't know how to handle it when the girlfriend's got herself in the line of fire and getting herself beat to hell and back."

K covered his hands with hers and tried for a little smile, not having expected him to react like … whatever this was. "If I hit my head, or something, it'll come back," she promised before she popped up on her toes to try sneaking a kiss herself. "And it'll hurt less when it does if you just let it happen on its own."

"This is so much more than a bumped head, and what does that  _mean_ , 'it'll hurt less'?"

"It means that memories making connections hurt sometimes," she explained as the two of them seemed to relax a little more - his hands moved to her waist as she put hers around the back of his neck. "And if I try to force it or jog my memory, it hurts more. So … whatever it was that happened, it'll come back in time."

"So like what … years? Decades?" Tony asked, obviously curious and concerned all at once.

"A few days if it was bad," she replied. " _Never_  if it was severe - but that's usually hand in hand with a traumatic brain injury … removal of tissue .."

Tony's eyebrows shot up at that, and it took him all of half a second before he blurted out what he was thinking. "There's nothing like that in your files."

K bit her lip and shook her head slowly. "A lot of my files were destroyed when Magneto broke me out," she pointed out. "Unless you know how to get into any copies."

"If they exist, I'll find them," Tony said, then paused. "Tissue removal?"

K nodded as she let go of him and took a seat on the bed- clearly dizzy.  "For when I was very very non-compliant."

"I hate that word."

"Yeah, not a big fan myself," K agreed, drawing her feet up to sit cross-legged. Her focus darted toward the door - which was enough of a cue for Tony to straighten up and maintain a more professional space before Steve came in.

"You're up," Steve said, though there wasn't any warmth to the statement. "K, I'm going to need to hear from you how the attack on Genosha went down. As I understand it, you and Pietro weren't side by side for most of it."

"I don't really remember all of it," K said, letting her shoulders relax. "But if it hasn't been more than a few days, then it won't be long before it comes back."

"Even with the damage they did to you?" Steve said. "Kind of impressive."

"I ... " K paused, her eyes narrowed slightly. "...what kind of damage?" Tony took a step toward K, one hand out to try to stop it but Steve was obviously far too curious and the question was answered before Tony had a chance.

"The double tap to the back of your head for starters," Steve said, shaking his head slowly. "You were shot up pretty badly."

K's lips parted and she let out a little 'oh' before she glanced over at Tony - and back to Steve, who had picked up the tray to bring all the way to her. "I don't … remember that."

"When I got to you, you weren't breathing," Steve said gently, his eyebrows raised and honestly looking more relieved than she was prepared to see from him. "I'm glad to see you doing so well so fast. I know Dr. McCoy said you'd be quick … but still … wow."

"Well you know, nothing to harm up there, right?" K said softly, though she had shifted so that she had her arms around her knees. It was plainly clear that she was trying to look smaller, though it was also clear it was a subconscious move.

"You should probably eat something," Steve prompted, though K shook her head at that.

"I'm not hungry right now, thanks. I need a minute to get my bearings."

Steve smirked. "Yeah, it must be different than how Wolverine heals. He barely breaks stride to eat."

"He's got more experience taking heavy fire than I do," K pointed out. "I'm just … tired."

"I'm sure you'll feel better if you refuel before you go back to sleep," Steve said, as he held out the water and waited until she took it. "At least drink some water."

"It always takes me some time to get my bearings after getting hurt like that," K admitted. "I will. I promise, but I need to let my system reset a little." She rested her hand over her stomach. "I'm a little dizzy from everything."

"And that will improve when you have some water at least," Hank said as he joined the three of them with a kind smile. "You lost a lot of blood. You won't be able to make more until you take in some water."

Steve and Tony both turned toward Hank as he approached, so they missed the look K had given him. "I appreciate the medical advice," K said, "But I'm a little more familiar with my body than you are. So when I tell you I need to wait until things level out, I need to wait. I'm not a fan of throwing up because I went too fast on the recovery end."

"Then perhaps it would be wise to get a saline IV set up for you," Hank said even as K shook her head. "It will only take a minute, and then you can get on the road to healing faster, and we can figure out how best to handle our respective situations."

"There's not much to discuss, doc," K said. "I have to go back to Avalon."

"Yeah, but my scanners found a tracker in your upper arm. It was removed and left on Genosha, so you might have a little more time on your hands," Tony said. "Where we can sit down and come up with a better plan to get you away from the crazy dictator."

"So it's a solid thing then?" Steve said, perking up slightly as he smiled at K. "We're bringing you here."

"She has concerns," Tony said, crossing his arms and looking much more businesslike, which had K entirely entertained with him. " _Legitimate_  concerns." He took a moment to very quickly outline the details on how Magneto found her - and continued to find her as K rested her chin in the palm of her hand and watched him. It was entertainment for her, but also a very effective way of reminding them both that this wasn't exactly the same as Wolverine's situation with Magneto.

"Yeah, the metal's the same, but he looks at her like a trusted advisor. She knows things that clearly, even his own kids didn't know, so the chances of him taking her apparent death at face value once he goes lookin' for that tracker are next to nothing." He took a deep breath and turned toward K, uncrossing his arms as he took a few steps closer. "I've been working on a better block to keep him from 'seeing' you using the metal," Tony admitted to her. "Wolverine's been helping me test it. But it's nowhere near ready, and honestly, I don't know if it would work against Magneto. His power scope is just ... "

"He's too powerful," K said, nodding. "It's okay. You can admit it. I know."

"No, I won't admit it yet," Tony said, smirking at her. "I'm still going to keep working on it."

"You  _do_ want out of there, don't you?" Steve asked, though it was hard for K to give him the proper attention when she liked the way Tony was smirking.

"Yeah, of course," she said almost distractedly. "But you don't have a way to do that, and my insistence that the Avengers are off the table with him won't stand forever if I keep showing up in your custody."

"Either he'll think we have an axe to grind with you or that you're passing us intel," Tony said, nodding his agreement. "Which … you kind of are."

"I am," she agreed as she finally cracked open the bottle of water and took a drink.

"Well, if you're going to get started with some water and a bit to eat, then I'd like to have a word with the good captain," Hank said before he turned toward Tony with a troublemaking sparkle in his eyes. "I'd rather she wasn't left alone, so would you mind, terribly?"

"I think we'll be okay here," Tony said with a nod that turned into a full out grin when the others were gone.

"You  _want_ to get caught, Mr. Stark," K accused, returning the smile.

"I wouldn't mind," he said as he took a seat facing her. "But if I caught half of what McCoy was saying, then for once,  _you_ need to rebuild your energy."

"But this might be your only chance to wear me out," she teased, which of course had him chuckling to himself before he leaned over and stole a long kiss.

"They're not wrong. We need to make sure you can do what you want without Magneto breathing down your neck," Tony said as he got himself comfortable, stretching out next to her and gently pushing the tray toward her  _again_. "Still dizzy or was that your subtle 'back off' to McCoy?"

"Little bit of both," she replied before she picked up the tray to move it out of the way, setting it on the bedside table before Tony slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her over.

"Door's closed, I think Dr. Beast knows what's up," Tony said before the two of them got half-tangled up. It didn't last too long though, and K broke the kiss and pushed at his shoulders slightly when she heard someone coming closer, though Tony was grinning at her. They got separated and were barely sitting up when the door opened and little  _Kurt_ came in with Logan.

The little boy was positively elated as he rushed over and wrapped himself around K's middle while Tony sat up, smirking as he watched the little Elf snuggle up. "You're at the wrong house," Kurt said, half muffled in K's shoulder.

"Not yet, I'm not," she said. "I have some nasty people after me and they can't know where you kids are." She had her eyes closed as she smirked, enjoying the hug she was getting as much as Kurt was.

Logan's first impression of the whole scene had him narrowing his eyes. But it was crystal clear to him what had been broken up. If the scents in the air wasn't enough - the fact that Tony was perfectly relaxed next to her spoke volumes on how  _close_ the two of them had to be. He cleared his throat to catch their attention. "I'm gonna go grab some coffee. You alright here?"

"Yes, fine!" Kurt called out, beaming up at Logan and missing the expression on his face entirely.

"Are you coming back?" K asked, resting her cheek on top of Kurt's head. "Because I could use some coffee if you don't mind too terribly."

Logan looked between her and Kurt, and though he was perfectly ready to tell her 'no', Tony clarified things. "You'll have to eventually, though if you don't want to bring coffee down, I can have Jarvis take care of that," Tony said almost frowning at Logan's reaction. "She's supposed to stay in this room. So unless you're dropping Kurt off for good …"

"You stayin'?" Logan asked K, totally ignoring Tony as he watched her.

"No," she replied, holding his gaze. "I can't."

Logan huffed and crossed his arms, clearly conveying that he didn't buy it, which had K holding his gaze evenly. At least until Kurt loosened his grip on her and peeked up with a grin. "I'm just glad to see you, even if  _I_ had to find  _you_ in America."

K smiled at him then wrapped him up all over again, going so far as to kiss his temple. "I'm glad you did, but I still have work to do."

" _Ja, ja._ All the adults do. But the others take time to see us. You need to do that too," Kurt said. "Even if you do send good presents."

"Did you get the one from Transylvania?" K asked, which had the two of them chatting as Logan went to get himself some coffee.

* * *

The visit with K had been exactly what Kurt needed, and by the time they got back to Westchester, Kurt was in high spirits, though Logan decidedly was  _not._ He watched Kurt head off to find the other kids, but once Logan was finally away from the kid, he was in an absolute snarly mood.

He ground his teeth for a moment before he headed for the garage where he could at least  _drink_ alone. Or so he thought.

Logan was halfway into a bottle of whiskey with the radio going low in the background as he worked on his motorcycle. There really wasn't anything wrong with it, but he really wasn't in the mood to deal with  _anyone_ either. And for the first time in a long while, he was in no mood when Jean came out to see him.

"You're projecting again," she said with a frown, watching him warily.

"I can leave."

"No, that's … don't do that. Kurt would be crushed and Peter would wilt away to nothing."

Logan gave her a dry look and rolled his eyes with a growl, but that only had Jean frowning a little harder. He went back to working on his bike even as Jean watched, arms crossed. Until very suddenly she realized what had him in a mood. "What happened?" she asked, leaning against the hood of Scott's car as she watched Logan work.

"Nothin' I got any right to get irritated about," Logan said, refusing to look up at her. "Let it go, Jeannie." Jean frowned, but when she reached up to peek, Logan got to his feet, breaking her attention. "I'm not in the mood to share. Don't."

"I was just … curious …"

"Not your business, Jeannie. I'm serious. Let it go." With that, Logan tossed the mostly empty whiskey bottle into the trash can and dropped the socket wrench on the floor near the motorcycle before he strode past her to go outside alone leaving Jean wondering who exactly it was that had Logan looking that upset.

Of course, when she got inside again, she figured it out quickly enough when Kurt was in high spirits as he bounced over to her with a grin. "I got to see K today!" he informed her. "And she was glad to see me too." His chest was puffed out as he grinned up at her, and just like that, Jean was reminded of the memories Kitty had shared of the time in Japan with Logan and K.

She was listening to Kurt, but at the same time, she was looking to where Logan had disappeared. That man had the worst luck when it came to women. So now that she knew  _who_ Logan was hung up on, she just had to figure out  _why_ he was so irritated. She didn't know if K had shot him down - though Logan wasn't the type to just give up that easily. And Kurt was tickled, so she couldn't have been secretly evil this whole time.

The fact that Logan didn't want to share with  _her_ had Jean convinced that it was a little deeper hurt. And with him being stubborn, she was going to need to find out why on her own. She couldn't help but peek in on Kurt, only to be disappointed when there wasn't anything she could work with there.

She crossed her arms as she watched the kids playing. Kurt and Logan might not be able to help her, but the Avengers - when they got back together with the X-Men - would likely be more than happy to fill her in.

* * *

News of the bombing had hit Avalon slowly. Erik was careful to restrict what broadcasts were shown to his most favored and closest followers, though it was clearly a simple matter of time before he would be expected to make a statement to the world at large. Of course, all contact with Pietro wasn't expected to be functional and he didn't bother trying to reach out, though as he was preparing his remarks, Wanda made her way toward her father with a serious glare.

"Have you heard from my brother?" Wanda asked, her hands in fists at her side.

Erik glanced up at her, watching her body language - and the red haze swirling in her eyes. "There are no communications into or out of what was Genosha," Erik said as he set his notes down.

"Have you gone down there to see for yourself?" she asked, looking more upset still, since even though she'd warned Pietro, she hadn't been able to get in touch with him either.

"Of course not," Erik said, frowning slightly. "It would be the perfect opportunity for the humans to attack me."

"He's your  _son_ ," Wanda said, the emotion clear in her voice. "Don't you want to know if he's alive or dead?"

"Young lady, chances are very good that we know the answer to that already. It was a dirty attack, and I'm still sifting through the information that will tell me exactly who was involved in aiding Latveria in their attack."

With a frustrated sort of sound, Wanda spun, her chest heaving. "I need to know if my brother is alive or not."

As Wanda left, to reach out to her contacts, Erik frowned down at his remarks and simply started editing. She was right, of course. It would look wrong if he referred to Pietro as anything but 'still missing'. But that should really only make the plea for action that much more stirring.

He stood up and made his way over to the feeds that were coming in - most importantly the one that was live into Genosha from NSA spy satellites and Avalon itself. The tracker that had been in Pietro's arm was still showing that it was in Genosha, but the smoke and rubble was too thick to confirm it. Erik let out an irritated sort of sound. Of course, he'd have to know for sure. And his best resource on the ground was K.

Yet, he wasn't wrong in his estimation that this would be the best time to capture someone. But he's prefer that someone less useful was captured first. Even with as resilient as K was, he knew that the right people knew how to break into her mind. And that simply wasn't something he wanted to have happen, even if it was entirely self-protective.

So instead of bringing it to her attention, or sending her searching for Pietro, Erik decided to ask Sir Vrykolakas to investigate Genosha. He was after all, the most capable at escaping should the need arise - and as far as the press went - to see what appeared to be a demon searching through the rubble might paint a different picture for those that wanted to paint mutants as evil. He just hoped that Vrykolakas was up for a bit of theatre while he searched.


	30. Deeper Intentions

Vrykolakas was more than agreeable to Magneto's proposal. Not because there was any loyalty there, but because he was frustrated with the little feral woman. He knew that K had still been fooling around with Stark and the repercussions of their affair was greater than either Stark or K realized. So much of K's frustration and helplessness had all but disappeared that the prospect of making a deal with her was more difficult than it should have been given the woman's station in life. But Vrykolakas was sure he could work around all of that - if Stark hadn't managed to give her such an irritating sense of hope for what  _could_ be. That in and of itself was enough to destroy all of the careful work that he'd already put into place, and more than enough for Vrykolakas to justify killing him if need be. He was more than tired of hearing 'no' from her. If he didn't have deliciously wicked plans waiting for her, he would have walked away, but he had a suspicion of what she could give him, and he wasn't about to let something as trivial as a  _spoiled rich playboy_ stand in his way. He didn't care what happened  _after_ his plans had been finalized, but Stark's very presence was moving the end game further and further.

He arrived at Genosha in disguise. Not just his 'human' form - but wearing the uniform of a UN soldier and a heavily armed one at that. He slipped into the ranks of UN officials combing the island on their investigation of war crimes against the island nation - not because they held any love for mutants, but because it was yet another reason to put sanctions on Latveria.

It was exactly like every other war zone Vrykolakas had seen over his long life. Carnage everywhere - bodies and bits of bodies strewn about. Already the stench was impressive enough that many of the young men leading the charge had taken more than they were prepared for. Bodies and buildings were still burning. Broken sentinels sparked and fizzled where they had fallen and the reminder of who was on his mind was in more areas than was possible had it only been the X-Men that were there to rescue people.

He paused as he looked at one sentinel - a treble slash that clearly was too wide set to be from K … but not far from that broken bit of machinery was another treble slash - this one embedded into the marble of a statue that had been toppled and shattered. As he reached out toward the slash marks, his eyes narrowed when he measured with his hand the comparatively narrow width between claws. His lip curled back reflexively, knowing that he had to  _find her_ before he could deal with much more of Magneto's nonsense. And he didn't know for sure where the X-Men were.

What he  _did_ know was that he could spread some terror and misinformation right here, right now. And the UN uniform he was wearing was a wonderful place to start. While in the uniform - and hiding his true form, Vrykolakas killed viciously. Any mutants he could find. Those that had managed to survive Genosha wouldn't have been useful to anyone, after all. And once several other soldiers began to do the same, he slipped off and reappeared in far more comfortable clothes and with his long, red tail swishing playfully behind him.

He knew that the cameras were rolling, and all he had to do was to play the part of a merciful savior. Of course, there was no audio, so there was nothing to say that he couldn't manage a few deals in the process … if nothing else, to keep his momentum going while he looked for the right opportunity to strike on the little feral woman.

* * *

When K woke up the following morning, she was sporting an awful headache, and before she even opened her eyes, it was plain that Black Widow had decided to sit with her waiting for her to wake up. K opened her eyes slowly and smirked when she saw the way that Natasha was sitting - arms crossed, no-nonsense expression and clearly ready to fight if need be. "Good morning, Miss Romanoff," K said stretching a little before she sat up in a fluid, easy motion. She turned her head to spot the coffee nearby, but almost as soon as she spotted it, Natasha spoke up.

"I'm here to get your debrief and to have you tell me  _why_ you've been protecting the Avengers," Natasha said. "And seeing as you have the past you do, I think this will be easiest if we're being honest with each other to start with."

K frowned and turned her way. "Do you want me to stop protecting the Avengers?"

"No. But I want to know why. And I  _am_ going to need that debrief."

K watched her for a moment and lightly shook her head with her eyes closed. "No," K replied, then simply settled back in to bed.

"K. You don't get to set the terms. Cap said you were going to debrief and that's what we're going to do."

"Yes. I am," K replied, rolling over and putting her back toward Natasha as she pulled the covers up again. "With him. Not you. If you want front row seats, that's fine. I don't care. But I'm not going to play interrogation with you."

"I could make you," Natasha said evenly and in a very reasonable tone, though K smirked to herself on hearing it as Steve and Tony both walked in.

"You can  _try_."

"Oh,  _that_ sounds like something fun to watch," Tony said, earning a little wider smile out of K, even if they didn't see it.

"You're under the delusion that you'd be joining," K said when she finally sat up again to join the conversation. Steve smirked at the look on Tony's face as K addressed him. "Captain Rogers, I'm sorry, but I don't have anything new yet. I can see flashes of the fight, but I'm not… the beginning isn't there yet. I can feel it - but …"

"Maybe you can tell me what you were doing there," Steve said. "I know you weren't on the list of officials in Genosha, and I know that Magneto didn't want you there, so how did you manage to get there?"

"I was leading a group of refugees from Latveria," K said. "I wanted to see that they were settled in comfortably, and help Pietro with an escape plan, even if Erik didn't want it. It was the first I'd seen him in … well. Over a month."

"I thought you were a recruiter," Steve said.

"I only do that when they don't know what someone's powers are. Or if they're already known to be dangerous."

Steve frowned at that. "So what do you do the rest of the time?"

"Scouting. Intel acquisition … basic spy work. When I'm not locked in my room," K said, continuing before they could ask. "I get on his nerves, and he doesn't want to trust me. The thing with the kids really is a sticking point between us. I want to help any kids that are in trouble, he seems to think that only mutants are okay to save. We've fought about it. A lot."

"As much or more than you've fought with him about not coming after the Avengers?" Natasha asked, and it was a measure of K's irritation that she didn't give Natasha a hard time before she answered.

"Pretty even, honestly," K said, tipping her head.

"And you continue to help the kids, and us," Tony said. "What happens when he finally has had enough of you being charitable?"

"Oh, he'll kill me, more likely than not. So - all the more reason to keep doing what I'm doing." K frowned lightly. "I thought you guys were working with the X-Men. Didn't Cyclops fill you in on this?"

"He did, but it's nice to have confirmation, too," Steve said before he looked over to Natasha. "Do you have any questions?"

"I'm sure I can come up with a few," Natasha said, though K only smirked pleasantly at her.

Steve let out a sigh. "At any rate, I hope you understand that I can't cut you loose until I've heard a full bebrief from you on what happened in Genosha," Steve said.

"I figured as much," K agreed. "And I won't stir up any trouble while I'm here. As soon as I can remember, I'll be asking for you."

Steve nodded and headed toward the door. "I talked to Logan about how to draw your memory of events back faster, and though he didn't have much in the way of advice on how to speed it up, he did recommend that you not be alone."

"Was that really for my memory or is that his paranoia about me trying to do something I shouldn't?" K asked.

"Likely both," Tony supplied. "Either way - now that you're conscious, you'll have someone sticking with you for the remainder of your stay here."

"Wouldn't expect anything less," K replied in a breath, letting her disappointment show as Tony and Steve started for the door, leaving K alone with Natasha.

By the time that Natasha left the room, leaving K with Clint, the little redhead was irritated. She'd tried, of course, to do an interrogation - no reason not to, as far as she was concerned - and to her frustration, K had stonewalled her every step of he way doing as good a job or better than anyone she'd come across. She was bugged enough that she decided that the best way to get her intel was from a telepath, and she'd gone almost directly to the nearest phone to call and see if either Xavier or Marvel Girl were available to come and try to crack into K's head. She was sure that K was hiding something - and she wasn't going to let her get away with it.

Meanwhile, Clint had brought with him a new invention of Tony's that had K more than a little confused. They had looked like nothing more than a pair of wide bracelets … but as soon as they snapped closed, they expanded up to her elbows, lit up and began to hum. She didn't need to ask what they were when she could feel the slight magnetic pull within her arms. It wasn't enough to interfere with arm movements, but she couldn't move her claws even minutely.

"Little failsafe for the rest of us," Clint said with a shrug. "But - it's a way to get you out of this room, too, which … come on. You don't want to be locked up in one suite, even if it is nice." He waved for her to join him, and after a moment of thinking it over and looking honestly frustrated, K started to follow him, padding along silently in stocking feet. He brought her down to a large room where it was clear, he'd decided movies was the best way to spend his shift if the large screen television and bowls of popcorn were any indicator.

She rolled her eyes at the set up - though when she started to head toward the door to leave, Clint was sure to tell her the rest of it. "You might want to just hang tight, lady. Those things you're wearing have tracers in them that are pretty delicate, so if you go too far away from who you're supposed to be with, you're not gonna like it."

K let out a little growl and crossed her arms as she looked around the room. "Doesn't look like I have much of a choice."

"Nope," Clint said, getting comfortable already as he started up the action flick and kicked his feet up on the coffee table.

K gave him a dry look and crossed her arms as she made her way over to take a seat on the far end of the couch from where Clint was stretched out. She pulled her feet up and wrapped her arms around her legs just to curl up into the corner as small as she could manage.

"You know you can use the couch as much as you want," Clint said. "There's plenty of space - and a lever for a footrest if you want it." He gestured to her. "Look, I know it's not ideal, but I swear, I'm not gonna do anything you don't want me to do. I've got Tash."

"Not my type," she replied without looking his way. "Too blonde."

"Perfect. We have an understanding," Clint said. "So you can stop doing that thing you're doing. You said you know me and my background. You know I'm not gonna do anything to you."

"It's not  _you_ ," K said, then shook her head. "Don't worry about it."

"Course I worry about it," Clint said with a shrug. "Any girl looking like that, I'm usually first to volunteer to hit the guy responsible. I mean, I know my team's part of it, but I'm not opposed to taking a wooden stake arrow to fix the problem with your boss…"

K shook her head at that. "Can't do that. There are kids up in that floating trash can. He dies, so does everyone he's got up there."

"This is a hypothetical situation, K. You're supposed to say 'that would be great, Hawkeye; I like the wooden stake idea' or at least suggest other people who need stakes while I'm at it."

"If it was as simple as just killing someone, I'd have done it already."

Clint let out a breath. "K," he said, "relax. I'm not an idiot. I've heard from Cyclops  _and_ Cap on all the complications. I'm just trying to get you to stop looking like you're waiting to get hit."

"Just a reflex," she muttered, though when she saw the expression he was wearing she let out a breath and shifted so her feet were tucked under her instead.

Clint let out a breath. "Yeah, okay," he said, turning back to the movie for the moment.

K wasn't very engaged in the movie at all, and instead was simply staring out the window with her chin on her knees when on the screen, there was the sound of an explosion - followed closely by a screaming baby and the pitter patter of dirt and rocks raining down. It was just enough to get K to freeze and hold her breath, though she didn't notice if anyone had seen her.

It all came rushing back to her at once. Everything from the battle that had temporarily disappeared. The little ones screaming and crying for their parents, wandering the beach as older kids tried to shepherd them to the Atlanteans. The one very small boy that refused to let her go until he was yanked off of her neck and out of her arms - screaming the whole time. And the bomb that landed on the shore - not far enough away from the transports loading up kids to avoid doing any damage. But worse than the screams was the almost deafening silence that came after that last explosion where several of the kids on the beach were simply too close …

She didn't realize that her cheeks were wet just like she didn't realize that she was trembling until Clint was right next to her looking panicked.

"What happened? What's wrong? Damnit, Tony, I thought you said this thing was idiot-proof…" But when K couldn't respond, Clint went into more of a panic and at least  _tried_ to calm her down with a tight hug and a few attempted jokes on where he'd put his wooden stakes.

He was just up to "silicone arrows to complete the full transformation for your blonde telepath" when Jean and Natasha arrived, and he looked overly grateful to see them both.

"She just started crying? I don't…"

But Jean looked more than a little alarmed herself as she closed her eyes and focused - and a moment later, K simply went limp as Jean put her out. "She was projecting like crazy." Jean turned to the two of them. "She remembers all of it - and she was stuck on one memory."

"Aww crap." Clint shook his head. "So… now what?"

"Well … we can get her somewhere more comfortable and I can just take a peek to see what happened back there," Jean offered.

"Okay," Clint said, shifting the way he was holding K to carry her with an  _oof_. "Right. Metal bones. What the heck." He switched from the bridal carry to one over the shoulder. "Sorry, K. Dignity's one thing but I ain't Thor."

Jean shook her head and reached out to pick her up telepathically. "There are easier ways, you know." The two redheads led the charge as Jean levitated K back to the room she was staying in, and as soon as she was situated on the bed, Jean got to work, simply projecting everything she was seeing to Natasha. It was a pretty simple matter, especially since K simply wasn't focused on anything but Genosha, even in her sleep. So the two women got a very complete scene from the start of the sirens all the way to when the soldiers took her down. "I think that was pretty complete. Is there anything else you needed that we missed?"

Natasha frowned but shook her head. "That gives us everything we need about the attack."

"She's  _not_ a soldier," Jean said.

"No, she's not," Natasha agreed.

"Coulda told you that myself," Clint put in, leaning against the wall easily. "Seriously, do telepaths not pay attention to anything outside of their minds? All you have to do is read body language. Soldiers don't act the way K does."

"And what do you think, Clint - what can you tell me?" Jean asked.

Clint shrugged, trying to keep his tone light, though it was obvious he wasn't happy about what was going on. "All I know is she has all the same markers and tells of the kind of kids I grew up with. Circus of crime, that kind of thing." He gestured broadly. "Stuck, desperate, nowhere else to go - everyone looks the same when you're in that situation. You either go big to get noticed and hope you get to the top or you go small so you don't piss people off."

"Which way do you think she's going?" Natasha asked.

"Oh, small, for sure," Clint said. "Watch her the next time she's not in a combat setting - and that includes verbal combat, Nat." He gave her a look. "When it's just her and there's nothing to fight she'd rather be small."

"She tries to disappear," Jean said.

Clint tapped the side of his nose. "Exactly. Not really supervillain material, if you ask me."

"She hasn't really  _participated_ in the fights either," Jean pointed out. "She keeps to the edges mostly and doesn't want to fight us. She's even helped Scott - pointed out when he was in trouble."

"Which makes me think this isn't some bad deal or obligation or anything else," Clint said. "She's doing the bare minimum. This isn't about alliances; this is about tools."

Jean glared for a moment at no one in particular as she thought it over. None of that was news to her. Not really. The X-Men had figured as much out, and the way that Tony had said Erik had yanked her around by her skeleton was just confirmation. "She should sleep for a while," Jean said quietly. "I gave her a heavy suggestion for dreamless sleep."

"Probably helpful," Clint said, then stuck his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "Anyway, I can stick around for the rest of my shift, but I gotta tell you - none of this makes me want to put an arrow in Magneto's forehead any less."

* * *

K woke up hours later, shortly before midnight, and before she opened her eyes, she turned slightly toward the scent of motor oil, hot metal, ozone, and a touch of some very expensive cologne - stretching slowly the whole time until Tony went ahead and stole a kiss. "You had a hard afternoon," Tony said between kisses as K woke up enough to participate more fully.

"I don't want to talk about that," K said in a breath, her eyes only half open as she made a conscious effort to get lost in him, and quickly throwing off Tony's equilibrium. Not that he was complaining. "I don't want to  _talk_."

Tony frowned for just a moment, but the truth was that he kind of understood where she was coming from. And though it probably wasn't the best thing for them to do, he wasn't going to make her any more miserable. He knew he could talk to her later about all this … when it wasn't so fresh.

They were more or less stripped down and getting involved when she pulled back slightly, and Tony frowned slightly, stopping entirely when he caught her request to take off the magnetic bracers. "It's just you and me," K said, running one hand down his side and the other up into his hair. "And I'll put them on again when we're through."

It took him a minute to weigh it out. He knew she wasn't going to hurt him. That much had been established - and the only one that was programmed to get the alert when the bracers turned off was him anyhow … He pulled back slightly and though he was going to do it anyhow, the open expression she was wearing was one that had him moving just a bit quicker. This was most definitely a test in his trust level and there was no way he was going to bomb it. The relieved sort of smile K gave him when the bracers turned off and retracted into bracelets that Tony quickly slipped off was enough to get a grin out of him as they kicked things off more properly.

A few hours later though, when they were finished fooling around, and Tony was peacefully sleeping half wrapped around her, K was wide awake and just waiting for him to fall into a deeper sleep. It wasn't that she didn't want to stay … it was just that she knew the clock was running and she wasn't going to be caught by Erik  _there_.

She honestly felt guilty about it when Tony's breathing deepened and slowed, and it took her a few minutes to force herself to slip out from under his arm to silently get dressed - the whole time, watching him sleeping peacefully unaware. Before she left, she made a point to head over to the door and lock it. That should give him at least a few minutes to get dressed before he was caught. Though, considering that Pietro was supposed to be the next person on shift, she was pretty sure that wasn't going to be an issue anyhow.

With that, she carefully made sure to keep quiet as she slipped out of one of the windows. She really did feel bad slipping out on him like this. But she was pretty sure he'd understand - all angles considered. The wind was picking up slightly as she got away from the mansion, and she was sure that it wouldn't be long before that woke Tony up, so she pushed herself a little harder to put in more distance. Considering how long it had been since she'd checked in, she knew she was on borrowed time with Magneto - especially when she factored in how utterly destroyed Genosha had been. He'd want her to do something sooner rather than later, she was sure.

K was well and truly out of the city before she felt the tug of Erik's abilities. In spite of herself, she couldn't help but smile since she'd managed to get out of the Avenger's mansion and far enough away that she could probably convince him that they weren't involved with anything she'd been up to.

Except of course, she didn't think about the tracker. Not until she saw it in the palm of his hand. "I told you I don't like being followed," K said, tipping her chin up. "It's not like you need it to find me anyhow. Obviously."

"Why were you on Genosha?" Erik asked.

"Why  _weren't_ you?" K challenged. "They were relying on you to save them - to keep them safe. And your  _son_ was there too."

At that, Erik's shoulders relaxed slightly. "Do you know what happened to him?"

K shook her head before she could even consider her answer. "I'm told I was shot. A lot," she said. "I don't remember much."

Erik let out a little sound at that. "Likely how they kept disrupting your memory," he said, more to himself than anything, but that had her growling. "I'm not planning to use that against you."

"Today."

"You need a new tracker before you spend more time here," he said as he started the ascent with K completely unable to move. Though for the first time in a while, she wasn't exactly angry about that part. She knew she needed to get in touch with Wanda and give her Pietro's message. It was a sure thing that Erik was going to bring her back - but it was just as sure that he would send her back, which just meant that she could keep the twins in communication.

Erik quizzed her lightly on the way up, and she didn't bother trying to hide the fact that the Avengers had brought her back - though she twisted her 'escape' slightly - and convincingly enough that when they got back to Avalon, K simply headed for Wanda. It was just after breakfast when she got there, and though she was glad to see the boys, she was more than a little disappointed that she hadn't brought them anything new beyond the package that had gone up from Transylvania.

"Have you boys been enjoying your treats?" K asked as both of then snuggled in for a moment. "A little white-haired bird told me the best stuff for you  _three_." She looked up at Wanda, who took that as confirmation that Pietro was alive and well, her shoulders dropping and the smile of pure relief easy enough to read.

"How come you don't send us candy  _all_ the time?" Billy asked, hanging on her arm.

"Oooh, you should!" Tommy giggled.

"Because if I did, your mom would go  _nuts_ with Tommy bouncing off the ceiling," K said, tickling both of them.

Tommy grinned and giggled. " _Chocolate nuts!_ "

"I thought she liked the walnuts," K said. "That's why I sent them."

"It was very good," Vision agreed.

"I had some!" Billy reported, grinning up at K. "Tommy wouldn't try it 'cause it looked weird."

"Did you like it?" she asked.

Billy shrugged. "It tastes lots better'n it looks."

"That's how it is in vampire countries," K said, teasing both of them with an accent not too far off from how Wanda would speak from time to time.

"Oooh, scary," Tommy gigled.

"I didn't bring any more candy," K told them. "I'm sorry, but your grandpa picked me up before I could do any shopping."

"Awww," Billy grumbled.

"I'll bring you exactly what you want next time," she promised. "So … what's your favorite? I'll get a whole bunch." While the boys began to chatter, listing off almost every single type of candy they could think of, K gave Wanda a meaningful look - wordlessly promising to fill her in on everything that had happened with her brother.

Of course, once the boys were done, and Vision took them to play where the women wouldn't be overheard, it was quite the discussion on both sides. And the last thing K expected to hear once the dust had settled was Wanda's concern for  _her_. "Did you happen to see Vrykolakas while you were out there?"

K frowned at that and shook her head. "No. Why would I?"

"He was agitated, and he seemed to be looking for you to return sooner," Wanda said. "He wasn't very pleased to hear you were out of contact when you were."

"More or less than your father?" K asked, though she was teasing and not at all expecting the expression Wanda was wearing.

"More," Wanda replied before she leaned forward. "Why? What's he so … invested for? I thought you said you weren't …"

"I'm not doing anything with him, you know that," K replied in a quiet hiss. "You know who I'm  _apparently dating_. His words, not mine." K held up both hands in defense, and Wanda stopped - only to break into a wide grin.

"Sounds serious. Ish."

"Oh, shut up," K said, shaking her head. "Can't be that serious. He's doing as I asked and doing a  _fine_ job of keeping it under wraps. He even went so far as to neutralize my claws so I couldn't use them while they had me there."

"Well," Wanda said after a long stretch of relative silence. "He's very thorough in his cover story then." It only took half a heartbeat before K turned her way and smacked her with the nearest throw pillow, which had Wanda falling apart in laughter very much like Billy did.


	31. Jubilation! The Secret's Out

After K had more or less come clean to Erik on the fact that the kids on Genosha had set her back heavily, Erik lightened up - but only slightly. "You can't keep watching them suffer," Erik said as she prepped for a simple mission to talk to a family about a young woman that had mutated rather quickly. "And I can empathize with that. I can. So I'd like you to focus on that. Clearly, little ones gravitate to you, so use that to bring them to safety." He smirked and with a wave, he handed her a small device. "This will make it easier for you to direct your time more wisely. A simple test will tell you if a child is one you can send to someone capable of helping."

For a long moment, K simply stared at the device in her hand. She couldn't feel her extremities and her ears were buzzing until she finally glanced up at him past her lashes with her face still downturned. "Excuse me." It was clearly meant to come out as a question, but the anger in her tone overruled all of that.

"No more wasting time with possible humans," Erik said. "It goes against what we're doing." But Erik seemed to have some sense of self preservation because a moment later, K found herself almost tossed into a transport with several of Erik's brotherhood on the way back to land.

The rest of the group was going on their own little errand, and K was sure to brush herself off with as snooty an expression as she could manage when Fred brushed against her shoulder. The craft was scarcely on the ground before she bolted out of the door and headed for the first vehicle that was waiting for them - a convertible, which was more than fitting for their surrounding of southern California.

The others gave her a glare as she shimmied out of the overshirt she was wearing in favor of the tanktop underneath - just before she nearly peeled out of the parking lot, leaving them in the dust with no further interactions with them. The drive wasn't particularly long to the little subdivision overlooking the ocean, but K found a way to stretch it out, and when she met the family, it was clear that they weren't on the same page as Magneto.

For starters … it was pretty clear the girl wasn't that terribly mutated like they had claimed. She had the gift of levitation, which wasn't too scary in itself, but the fact that she couldn't stop her hair from floating in the air around her head like seaweed was really what had her parents concerned. They weren't scared of her or what she could do - they were simply afraid of what would happen when someone reported her.

"I don't want to leave home," the young lady said tearfully. It was clear that she was a little surfer girl or at the very least, a beach bunny by how she was dressed and how tan she was - her tan lines clearly showing where her wetsuit had been sitting for hours and hours over the summer.

K looked between the parents and the young woman and shook her head. "Can you control it at all?"

The girl shook her head. "Even when I put it in a pony tail, it stands straight up." Again, K simply looked between the girl and her parents.

"If you don't want to leave home - don't," she said. "Do you levitate other things?"

"Not unless I concentrate," she replied, then demonstrated by floating the coffee table a few feet off the floor.

"So … you don't want to go anywhere, you don't do anything really to draw attention … and it's  _just_ the hair floating that's got you upset?" The three of them nodded in response and K let out a sigh of longsuffering. There was only so much she could do when people were being stupid. "So cut your damn hair."

In the next few minutes, she listened to them going over the indignity of needing to do something so  _drastic_ as a makeover. K couldn't believe her ears at how stupid the three of them were - and she couldn't get beyond the fact that they'd called her out because they felt  _inconvenienced_ … but before they could get any further into it, K had simply gotten up and started to walk out. It was clear that this was Emma's idea of a joke, and it was honestly a more mild one at that, but … K wasn't going to wait around for these idiots to figure out where their priorities were before she simply left and headed off looking for something to do to kill some time and clear her head from the stupid she'd just witnessed.

It took a couple of hours, but after sending Emma a photo of the family with a caption of 'stop wasting my time with your gene pool', K found a mall - which was as good a place as any to get out of the sun. She had gone through a few stores - and found a few games for the boys when a little girl in a bright yellow tee shirt let out an ear-piercing screech a moment or two before a sentinel landed hard in the open pavillion, breaking storefronts with the wash of its flight systems. The glass hadn't all fallen before two more joined it, and all at once, the three robots were reaching out and capturing whoever failed their little scan.

K swore to herself - her luck this trip was already proving to be rotten, though she wasn't entirely sure that Emma wouldn't send a tip to the authorities just to be a pain, either. After all, every time that K had to be pulled out of trouble or picked up by Erik, he seemed to drift closer to Emma's way of thinking.

So to avoid that, K headed for the exit, fully intending to simply get the hell out of there as quickly as possible when the little girl in the yellow shirt found herself being cornered by the robot.

It was a shocking enough scene to bring back all of the moments from Genosha that K couldn't have stopped, and in her mind's eye, all she could see was the little girl in her bright yellow shirt face down in the sand of a very different beach far from Santa Monica, but it was enough to get K moving the other direction. She rushed over - cutting through the arm of the robot before it could reach the girl, though all that really did was get the stupid thing focused on her instead.

In the second time in as many weeks, K found herself single handedly trying to take out giant robots while innocent civilians screamed and ran for cover. And the whole time, she was being very careful to keep an eye on the little girl to keep her from getting herself caught up in the wrong place even  _more_ than she was already.

And then, all of a sudden, K was staring at the CPU of the Sentinel, and Rogue touched down, dusting her hands off. "Y'all okay?" she asked, though she was obviously directing the question to the scared little girl.

The little one took one look at Rogue, let out a little squeak and then darted forward to grab on to K's leg. "I'll get her out of here," K offered, though she realized after she crouched down to pick the little one up that her voice was shaking. The girl wrapped her arms around K's neck and K darted off before Rogue could say a word.

She looked over her shoulder to see that Rogue and Remy were already teaming up on one of the Sentinels, drawing its attention for the moment. Of course, it was never that simple, and almost as soon as K started to run off with the little one, another sentinel was targeting them - shouting its warnings  _as_ it fired.

They heard the the Sentinel's whine as it got ready to fire - but instead, it made a sort of high-pitched sound and then  _fizzled_ , with Storm touching down close by. "There are more, but I believe Remy and Rogue have it in hand." She smiled softly at the little girl. "And who do we have here?"

K looked exasperated as she let out a breath and looked to the little one, who took one look at the costumed heroes and buried her face in K's neck. "I don't know her name yet," K said.

Storm's smile turned gentler even as she ushered the two of them away from the fight - the pink explosions and Southern swearing lighting up the place. "Don't worry about those two," she said. "They have a language all their own sometimes."

"Clearly," K agreed, though she took the opportunity to try and snuggle the little one, who was so plainly still scared. While they were walking, K peeked in the back of the girl's shirt to see if her name was on the tag of the shirt. "Jubilee …"

The little girl's head came up, and she stared at K. "How'd you guess?" she sniffed.

"It's on your tag, sweetheart," K replied gently.

"Oh, right."

"Do you know where your mom and Dad are?" K asked. But at that, the little girl dissolved into tears, and it took a long moment before K could get her to stop enough to hiccough out that her parents had been killed. Which of course, had K curling around her protectively.

Storm made a point to redirect them, and K barely saw where they were headed for as involved she was with trying to get Jubilee to calm down and stop sniffling and crying. So when she did look up and saw Wolverine more or less playing king of the mountain on a stack of sentinels, it was enough to get her to take pause.

"Wolverine, would you like to come meet our new friend?" Storm asked warmly. "Her name is Jubilee."

Logan took just a moment to put his cigar out before he slipped down the robots and made his way over. K couldn't help but give him a relieved sort of smile, and in response, Logan gave her a cocky sort of wink before he tipped his head to the side to catch the little girl's eye before he pulled the cowl off and smirked at her. "Hey there, little darlin'."

Jubilee glanced up at him and then seemed to size him up, which had Storm smirking to herself. "Hey," the little girl said at last.

"You alright? Or did you get caught up in all this mess?" Logan asked quietly.

"Those stupid robots ruined my game," she grumbled. "And that was my last quarter!"

"They're good at that," Logan said. "You lost now?"

Jubilee's bottom lip started to quiver before she shook her head and shrank back into K with a little "uh-uh."

Logan didn't wait for an invitation before he stepped a little closer and rested one hand on Jubilee's back and the other on K's as he tried to catch Jubilee's gaze. "Hey, we can help you. We got a lot of kids that tick off those robots and they're doin' alright." He glanced up at K to prompt her into helping - though it wasn't necessary as she was already falling right into step with him.

"Do you want to go with them?" K asked, her tone perfectly gentle.

"They're  _weird_."

"Totally," K agreed. "But they're nice, too and I know there are other kids your age there. Two of them even climb up walls."

"That's weird too," she said, making a face.

" _So_  totally weird," K agreed again. "But kind of cool. I'm a little weird too. Did you see what I did inside?"

Jubilee bit her lip. "Yeah. But that was okay. You kicked their butts."

"And my claws didn't scare you?" K asked, glancing over at Logan.

"I guess not," Jubilee said with a frog. "It's not  _too_ weird. Not like the weirdos with the hair and the-"

Both Logan and K shared a look - that … was definitely a new reaction. "They talk funny," Logan agreed. "And they don't know when to shut up."

"No, they don't," Jubilee agreed, squirming a bit now that she wasn't quite as attached to K.

"Well," K said, trying to shift her toward Logan. "This is Wolverine … and he's got claws like I do - only they're a little bigger. And he wrecked that pile of robots over there all by himself."

Jubilee looked past Wolverine and then let out a hushed "Wicked."

K set her down and then led her closer to Logan, who offered the little girl his hand as they started to chat and before long at all, K let go of her and stepped back while Logan let Jubilee lead the way toward the jet, all while the little girl told him about how she had the high score on the Pac-Man machine at the mall.

K watched them for a moment, unconsciously smiling to herself as she watched the easy way Logan engaged Jubilee. It took some doing, but she finally started to realize that … she had things she could be doing that didn't involve being so-publicly seen with the X-Men. And that had her quietly looking toward the parking lot to see if she still  _had_ a ride.

Storm was smirking as she watched Jubilee attach herself to Logan - clearly amused that yet  _another_ little kid was trying to stake a claim - and while she did, K simply turned tail and skipped out on the group of them.

She knew the little girl would be safe, and it was pretty clear to her anyhow that she wasn't the type that  _needed_ the reassurance that others like Kurt had, so she rushed to find her car and then headed out. But … as she was cruising up the coast again, she decided it was time to turn the tables on her secret lover. Especially with how she'd left him behind last time. So K took a moment to pull over and reach out to Tony - if nothing else, then to see if she'd screwed up by slipping out on him. When he answered the phone, there was music going in the background and he seemed half distracted when he called out his greeting. Which really didn't tell her anything considering she knew that his AI screened his calls when the actual butler didn't.

"So I don't know where you are, but  _I'm_ currently taking in a lovely view of the Pacific …. if you're in town, and you're not adverse, I could use a couple of days of relaxation and good company," she said in lieu of hello. "And if not, then I guess I'll have to find somewhere on my own to just .. lay around and pretend like I can tan in something wholly inappropriate. Probably frowned upon by the local officials ..."

"I have a place where you can do both," Tony said, the smile obvious in his voice.

"Yeah? Can I make up for how I utterly abandoned you in New York, or did I totally shoot myself in the foot?" K asked.

"I think we can work something out. Might take some creativity, but … I'm game. Call me when you get to Malibu," Tony laughed.

"Alright. Probably … 'bout half an hour. Ish."

"Meet you there."

* * *

It was integral for Magneto to be sure that he had a center where mutants could gather - and where his Brotherhood could operate out of. Since Genosha, as he'd predicted, support for the war-savaged mutant population had gotten a boost. Particularly since Erik had been sure to point out how he'd  _tried_ to make it a place for the mutants of the world to leave the general population and live in  _peace_  … and how it had been ruined by a few rogue nations.

Backlash against the UN was also fierce - and many of the countries involved with the organization were shouting about how they had violated human rights when the footage came out of the UN soldiers murdering already injured and debilitated mutants on Genosha - the fact that the red skinned demon had also been clearly seen on camera gently helping young women out of the wreckage as a contrast wasn't doing them any good either.

But it did pave the way for Erik to build his mutant embassy on the ruins of what was once Avenger's Tower. He hadn't gotten the clearances, the permission, or the permits, but … who exactly was going to cross him when he was so carelessly murdering any humans that tried to reason with him. And with the Avengers more or less underground …

Erik was more than a little smug as he floated in midtown - pulling metal out of the rubble and reforming it into a smooth, purely metal structure that gleamed in the sun. And as he did so, droves of mutants began to come out of the woodwork to support him. The tables were turning on humanity, and Magneto was the one that was making that happen.

He couldn't have been more pleased with himself, and somehow, he found himself flat out ignoring the terror and fear that was running rampant in the streets. As long as it was humans that were being hunted, he turned a blind eye to the damage. And from his vantage point, it was clear that's what was happening as the Morlocks erupted from their home in the sewers to claim their rightful place above ground.

Of course, all that really was doing was giving the news that Erik  _didn't_ control the most terrifying coverage of 'monsters' that were running loose in New York … and the trend was growing, too. Mutant populations that had gone underground years ago were all starting to arise, coming out of their holes to inflict as much pain and suffering that they could on anyone that wasn't proudly waving Magneto's flag.

He'd finally done it. He was - with the help of Pietro's 'death' - the victimized leader of a growing group of violent, vengeful people that were realizing the extent of the power they'd held all along.

* * *

Clint was smirking to himself as he climbed in the window at the house in Malibu. He even gave Tony's security camera a wave as he did so - since he had the whole thing on a delay so Tony would see it thirty minutes after he got in.

"Just like old times," Clint chuckled. "Only I'm not here to kill you. Still working with Nat, though." He grinned a little wider before he delved a little deeper into the house, headed up the stairs to where the bedrooms were.

When he got a little closer, he could  _hear_ that Tony was  _occupied_ , so he did what anyone would do and crept up to the door and started pounding on it loudly. "OH MY GOD, TONY!" he shouted through the door. "ARE YOU DYING?"

Tony swore, loudly enough for Clint to hear him easily. "Get lost, Barton!" he shouted.

Clint chuckled to himself and then simply let himself in as the two of them were quickly trying to cover up what they could. "Listen, man, we need to talk about your security, because it is lackluster.  _Lackluster,_ I tell you. At least give me a challenge, here."

"Obviously," Tony said, looking entirely unamused, though the scene had to be close to what Cap had walked into by the way the girl was hiding her face and sticking close to Tony.

"Hey, sweetheart, don't let him treat you like a dirty little secret," Clint sang out as he pulled up a chair and sat in it backwards. "I just heard Tony's death throes and came to make sure he wasn't being throttled or something."

" _Helvete_ ," she muttered in a clearly frustrated tone - though mostly to herself.

"And a happy new year," Clint said. "So, you got a name or are we just gonna wait this out - because I really don't want to see Tony in the nude, but…"

"Clint -  _get out_ ," Tony said.

"See, I would, but I answer to a higher authority and she scares me more than you," Clint said. "And she's  _worried_ about you, and I try not to let her do that."

K barely picked her head up from Tony's shoulder and shook her head as the two of them clearly had a quiet word - though Tony was sure to use  _her_ to block Clint from his part of the conversation, even going so far as to make sure K's face was hidden as he put his hand at the side of her head to let her hair fall so it blocked her better. And when she finally spoke - she was sure to lay on the accent thickly when she answered with a lilting tone. "Fine, my name is Lilja."

"Hiya," Clint said, waving with the tips of his fingers. "Nice to meet you. Can you at least talk for a second so I can tell Widow I checked you're not secretly the White Queen in disguise or something?"

"That's a hateful thing to say," she replied, still with the accent in place, though by the way Tony was smirking … it was pretty clear that he was enjoying it. "I'm not used to talking to men like this … do you mind?"

"Letting you get dressed? Not at all," Clint said with an easy smile. "More than Tony's offering anyway."

Tony let out a sigh. "Pretty sure she'd like you to leave. I know I would."

"I am scareder of Widow than you, Tony. I thought we established this?"

"Why are you here?" K asked Clint.

"See?" Clint grinned and gestured at K. "See? This is what happens when you go off the reservation, Tony. It's like being twenty-two and suckered into murdering you all over again. You've got half the team worried that you're going to get yourself killed, and I wind up looking like a tool. Rude."

When it was clear that he wasn't leaving though - no matter how obnoxious he was coming off, K finally let out a breath and turned enough to peek over her shoulder. "You really are being a tool. I know you have feelings for him, but please go away - we're trying to be alone."

But that just had Clint bursting into a laugh and pointing at Tony. " _I knew it!_ " he declared. "This proves me right- this proves Nat right!"

"You didn't know anything," Tony shot back. "And you're still  _wrong."_

"You are," K agreed. "Oh, so very wrong."

"Lies." Clint leaned back in his chair easily, the grin only getting wider. "See, Tony, when we said that we'd like to try and recruit, we didn't mean to put up the red light. I mean, I know you've got your mind in the gutter at all times, but try to have a little decorum…"

K shifted the way she was situated to give Clint a little glare. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Clint grinned. "You suck at this, Tony," he said before he gave K a wave. "So, we'd love you to join our side. Or even just leave the loser in purple. For… a different loser in purple. I'm a bad messenger for this."

"Wait," K said, shaking her head. "Who's the second loser in purple?"

"Um, me?" Clint grinned. "The metaphor doesn't entirely work but…"

"Pretty sure I said I wasn't interested," K deadpanned. "I'm already with who I want. Clearly."

"Yeah, and I don't shell for Tony's girls," Clint said without missing a beat. "I just meant it would be nice to work with you. Geez."

K looked to Tony with a raised eyebrow. "Why is he still talking? And here?"

Tony shook his head before he raised his voice again, gesturing at the door. "Why  _are_ you still here?"

"Or are you the type that wants to watch? Looking for some new moves, perhaps?" K asked Clint, getting a smirk out of Tony at least.

Clint held up both hands. "Hey, my job here is done. I just had to come and make sure Tony wasn't sleeping with the enemy. Which,  _technically_ , he is, but if you were gonna kill him, you'd have done it by now, so… have fun, kids!" he sang out happily, spinning the chair in place as he strode out the door.

He was barely gone before K settled in again. "Your team does  _not_ know when to mind their own business. And the secret is clearly out."

"Yeah, he can't keep his mouth shut," Tony agreed, but when K started to get up, he pulled her over - clearly not quite ready to give up.

Of course, it wasn't long after Clint left that the two of them decided to refuel and stretch for the time being - and it was probably the best possible thing since it wasn't long at all before Rhodey let himself in - and he looked every bit the part of a man on a mission.

Tony and K were fairly curled up on the couch together, quietly just taking in some time  _alone_ when Rhodey stalked into the room. "Occupied!" Tony called out.

"Oh hell no," Rhodey said, not about to let Tony off the hook, his arms crossed. "What kind of self-destructive crap is this? You said yourself you can't get her out of Magneto's influence so what. What is this?" He gestured to the two of them.

K looked from Rhodey to Tony and very unhelpfully didn't say a word, instead just watching to see what the story was.

"I said she can't get away from him, not that she wasn't willing," Tony said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh yeah, that's definitely a good enough excuse to get tangled up with the enemy." Rhodey tipped his head K's way. "Look, I get it. Not your choice. But what is your plan here, Tony? You gonna just  _hope_ Magneto doesn't destroy one of you?"

"I was more hoping for a way to stop him, honestly," Tony said.

"I can stab him in the face next time I see him, but it'd kill a few kids on Avalon, and I'm not a fan of the letting kids die thing," K added, waving with the tips of her fingers.

"Yeah, I get the debriefs."

"And I'm still the bad guy?" K said, nodding. "Okay. Got it. I was thinking more like Switzerland, but sure."

"What's your plan for when he sends you to kill my best friend here?" Rhodey asked.

"I've been supplying you guys with intel - and the polymer that makes your new armor. Haven't I already made it clear I won't kill Avengers?" K asked.

"Unless Wanda asks," Rhodey said.

"That wasn't … really what happened," K said, losing all of her good humor as she realized exactly how angry Rhodey was.

Rhodey had his arms crossed. "Yeah," he said flatly. "See, my problem is he's got a fortress full of people you're trying to protect, and you're made of a metal he can easily find, and if he gets it in his mind you're a key to finding Tony, what's gonna stop him? Or what's gonna stop you if he balances Tony against kids?" He gestured between them. "You're ignoring the elephant in the room for a little nookie. I get it. But you're out of your damn minds if you think I haven't played the probabilities here on what happens  _when_ Magneto finds out what's going on here."

Before Tony could argue it, K simply got to her feet and headed for the door, picking up her keys on the way out without saying a word to either of them. As far as she was concerned, he was absolutely right, and she felt like trash for having overlooked the possibility of Erik using kids against Tony. It would be a hard decision, but one that she flat didn't want to have to make. Not with how attached she was getting to him.

For a second after K left, Rhodey looked stunned, and then he turned to Tony. "O...kay."

"Do you believe her now?" Tony asked. "Because I could have told you she's skittish."

"Someone had to say it, Tony, and with your record-"

"My record," he said, nodding. "Yeah, we covered that already, I think. And I'm not wrong about this one." Tony got to his feet and took a few steps for the lab. "I already know better than to chase after her right now, so you can unclench."

Rhodey looked over his shoulder again at where K had slipped off before he moved to catch up with Tony. "Well, what the hell am I supposed to think when you're screwing a girl on Magneto's payroll that you said yourself you  _can't_ get out of his reach?"

"I don't know?" Tony said, shrugging. "Maybe … help me figure out how to get her out of there before he kills her?"

"Yeah, I  _was_ part of the debrief on the recruitment pitch. But Tony?" Rhodey pointed at him. "This is crap. You should have told me."

Tony let out a frustrated breath and threw up both hands. "I was trying to keep it on the down low.  _She_ wanted to keep it quiet - probably the old 'the fewer people know the less risk' thing."

"Yeah, well how's that going for you?" Rhodey shot back.

"It was going pretty good until Clint got nosy," Tony said. "Not like this is new."

"Yeah, that doesn't help your case," Rhodey said, shaking his head before he let out a breath. "Okay. Show me what you have on getting this girl out."


	32. Show Your Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being busted in Malibu, Tony and K have gone their separate ways (for now) but that doesn't mean there aren't lasting effects. Everyone has things they need to account for and the game is quickly coming to a head for everyone.

K would have been lying if she had said she wasn't in a foul mood after the less than stellar introduction to Rhodey. It really didn't help that he was absolutely right all the way down the line, either. But she couldn't fault him for it. He was just looking out for his good looking, highly sought-after, sweet …  _idiot_ genius friend, after all. And he was right. For all intents and purposes, she  _was_ on the wrong side of things, and that likely wasn't going to be something she could change. Even if it was … she'd screwed herself over when she lost her temper with the wife-beater. Tony was likely being wildly optimistic when he told her that they could find a way to deal with the Pym issue. That … or she'd totally misjudged him and he was just getting his adrenaline rush screwing someone that was perfectly capable of ending him in a flash.

That was positively not what she was hoping for from taking some time with Tony. It should have been nothing but the  _good_ things with perfectly lovely company … and as a result of the ridiculously short and not at all what she'd hoped for weekend in California, K was more than willing to go do a little hit on the far side of the country. Of course, in reevaluating her … arrangement with Tony, she was in no rush to get there. Intel was still coming in, and it was still on loose footing, so the long drive cross country would only give her a better layout of this hit by the time she got to New Jersey. And in the meantime, she was ignoring phone calls left and right. She was in no mood to talk to Emma, who of course had 'just one little request' while she was in Las Vegas that K hung up on. Or the six calls she got from her as she neared Omaha. All of which, K simply picked up and hung up immediately. She was relieved at least to see that Tony was smart enough not to try it after Rhodey's little speech, even if K found herself considering calling  _him_.

She had stopped just outside of Chicago for a short break - still at  _least_ a day's drive from being anywhere  _near_ the East coast. The bar she was at was a quiet one, for the most part, and it smelled like a decent place to grab a bite and a drink to shake the road dust off for a few minutes. She'd barely made her order before the bartender had her drink in front of her, and after a good pull on her beer, she rested her head in her hands as she tried to clear her mind. As K let out a long, slow breath, someone stepped up behind her and squeezed both of her shoulders. She was instantly tensed, but she didn't need to turn - not when the opened door of the kitchen made the air shift enough so that she could smell who it was. Not that it was any kind of a comfort.

Vrykolakas squeezed her shoulders tighter as he leaned in against her until she could feel his breath in her hair. "You've been causing so much trouble… not just for Magneto, either." Even without looking, she could almost feel the smile he was wearing.

"What brings you here, Sir Vrykolakas?" K asked, and when she shrugged her shoulders to dislodge his hands, he simply ran them down her arms instead and crept close enough that she could see his profile in her peripheral vision.

"You will end this ridiculous affair with Stark," he said with a little growl.

But that had her hackles raised. "And what if I don't?"

Vrykolakas smiled and slipped around so he could face her. "I suppose we can wait and see, can't we?"

She wanted to tell him to shove it - and a part of her wanted to purposely pursue Tony that much harder if it irritated Vrykolakas that much … but she couldn't do that to him. She wasn't going to put a target on him when she'd already stepped back from him. "Not necessary," she said in a breath as she let her shoulders slump. "I walked out on him."

For a moment Vrykolakas narrowed his eyes as he watched her, and she knew he was looking into her memories just from his mannerisms. "You have feelings for him," he said quietly, then began to smile. "He's likely not outlived his usefulness then."

And that was enough to get her to turn completely toward him. "What are you talking about?"

He smiled somehow wider. "You've been travelling alone for too long. You're getting paranoid, my pet."

"Weren't you just threatening me?"

He tipped his head slightly. "We can discuss it on the way to your next task. As I understand it, you'll be plotting murder and mayhem." He learned closer to her with a leering grin. "Perfect foreplay, don't you think?"

"To  _what?"_

"Come now …" Once again, he put his arm around her shoulders. "Don't tell me that a good murder doesn't get your heart racing. That is what sent you to Stark after the little brush in Santa Monica, isn't it? One good adrenaline rush to follow another … No reason to break those habits. You don't even need to ask nicely for me to assist you in the killing first."

"That's not …"

"You don't need to act coy," Vrykolakas said with a smirk before he projected to her.  _I know what's in your head, my dear girl. You can't hide your true self from me. But unlike others that_ beg  _for your attention only to try and tame you, I would help you to embrace all you are capable of._ She felt his tail snake around her waist as his smirk stretched into a smile.  _You could be truly frightening, my dear. No one would think to cross you at my side._

"Is that part of your deal or is that a  _perk_ ," K replied with a growl that had him grinning wider.

"If you  _choose_ it, then we don't require a deal," he said, still grinning.

"Sounds exactly like something a demon would say," K said under her breath before she could stop herself. Of course, as soon as she said it, she closed her eyes and bit her lip. She wasn't in the habit of insulting mutants on their appearances … and she still was  _hopeful_ that she was wrong and that Vrykolakas was simply a powerful mutant, but when he started to chuckle and she turned his way….

"Sometimes, the truth is the simplest path," he said with a grin - his eyes dancing with delight. "You're not a particularly religious woman, are you?" K paused and shook her head. "Pity. After helping a few out of Genosha, I've remembered how exhilarating it is to deal with those going against their belief in  _God_."

"Then your being here is holding you back," K said, which was shocking enough to get Vrykolakas to stop entirely. "You have deals to collect on already, don't you?"

He narrowed his eyes at her slightly, though the smile didn't falter. "I do. I simply thought I'd offer you more than a simple deal while you had some time to consider it."

"I thought you wanted to go with me."

"Only if you're prepared to say yes," he countered. "As you said - I do have other matters to attend to while they are still young." He smiled wider. "Something I don't have to worry so much about with you." It was clear to him that he wasn't getting any further with her today, but he had to give her a parting shot. "Choosing to join me would give you everything you could dream of - and more. Even if you're not prepared for all of it yet." His tail slowly unwound from around her waist as he leaned forward to whisper something into her hair that she didn't understand  _at all._ "Should you make a decision, simply call for me. I'll find you."

"Wouldn't that require your actual name?" K asked, her eyes flashing as he smiled wider.

"If you're clever, maybe you'll decipher that on your drive. Alone. For at least the next day."

"Is there a timer on this offer?"

"Of course not. It's open to you until you find yourself in such a position that a  _deal_ would be more advantageous to me." With that, he stepped back and bowed, disappearing in a cloud of red and black sulfur. She tipped her head back and pulled out some cash from her pocket - laying the whole of her tab and a tip on the table even before she got more than a few sips into her beer. The talk with Vrykolakas had her on edge - and not at all in the mood for anything with the sinking feeling in her stomach.

* * *

And in Malibu- still - Tony and Rhodey were getting more than a little frustrated. Science was not working  _with them_ , and though it wasn't that unusual, it was clear that Tony was in dire need of a break. "Hey. You're worthless like this," Rhodey said. "Let's step away."

"You're so motivational," Tony deadpanned.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Rhodey said. "But I'm also right. I just think … maybe we're looking at this a little wrong. Maybe we're being too specific."

"Yeah, no," Tony said as they made their way out of the lab and up to the kitchen - where as it turned out, Jarvis had already arranged for pizza to be delivered for the two of them. "It has to be specific." Tony shook his head as he grabbed a slice, barely even starting to chew before he began to think out loud. "I've already done analysis of the metals on Avalon-"

"Avalon? Tony. I thought this was about getting your girl."

"It is. Hear me out. Avalon is made up of all kinds of metals. Pretty much everything but Adamantium and Vibranium." He waved a hand. "I'm not concerned about the Vibranium right  _now_. But the Adamantium ... " Tony took another bite and narrowed his eyes as he thought it over.

"If we could find a way to exclude  _just_ that, we could isolate her," Rhodey finished as Tony nodded along. "That's … we haven't been able to come anywhere close to that."

"Yeah." He stared off toward the ocean for a moment as the two of them ate in silence. "Maybe … because we're working with the wrong alloy."

Rhodey frowned at him as Tony started to clearly get moving - he could practically see the gears moving faster in Tony's head. "Every time Adamantium is made, the alloy is slightly different. It's just how it is. The recipe is tricky. Even one batch to the next can be slightly different…."

"We need to know what hers is exactly." Rhodey said, frowning.

"Which means we need to get her into a lab," Tony finished, watching Rhodey now.

"And that's gonna be hard when she just walked out and hasn't  _reached_ out." He let his shoulders drop as he swore. "But - you wouldn't have gotten this far if you two were still tangled up."

Tony shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Either way, I think we're at a standstill until I can analyze  _her_ Adamantium."

Rhodey gave him a dry look. "See, but I'm gonna have to do that part? Because I can see from here that could be your excuse to get down in the labs with this girl - and then you'll never get the job done."

Tony looked perfectly insulted at that, but didn't really argue it. "You know … that's what I'm gonna call it now? 'Come on, sweetheart, I need to get you down for analysis. Very delicate procedure. Can't be interrupted.'"

"Oh yeah," Rhodey agreed. "Need silence, doors  _locked_ so no one comes in ... "

Tony and Rhodey shared a look and Tony burst out laughing at that. "Yeah, but Clint would have broken in anyhow."

"Yeah, but you wouldn't have had him on your tail if you'd done it to start with for Jan. Or Steve."

"But then I wouldn't have had you helping me figure out how to get her to safety either," Tony pointed out, which had Rhodey smirking in spite of himself. "So … while we're here, lets get you into the upgraded armor I came up with for you."

"When did you have time?" Rhodey asked, not at all expecting it.

"You act like all I do is chase my little  _Lilja_ down for  _nookie._ " He spun and pointed a finger at Rhodey. "I'm never letting you live that down, you know. What are you? Seventy? That's … wow. Your terminology."

Rhodey let out a sigh of longsuffering and shoved Tony - who was chuckling. "Is that her real name then?"

"I don't know, but she said it with a Swedish accent, so I hope so," Tony replied with a wicked, troublemaking grin that had Rhodey laughing outright.

* * *

Traffic through New York had K in the proper mood for murder, too, so when she got settled in with the newest intel to watch … it was just a matter of getting the timing right.

K had been watching her mark for almost two weeks. In part because she was in no mood to just give Erik what he wanted, and partly because she wasn't sure she wanted to do anything for anyone just then. But she didn't like any of what she'd seen so far from this Bishop character. He had the wrong kind of crowd coming and going at all hours. She saw not just drug pushers, but extortionists and traffickers and all of them were all but bowing down to Bishop as they met up with him. That on its own was enough to raise the red flag - but she was waiting for the right time to strike. Once the rest of the members of this "Board" he was apparently involved in arrived - that was when she'd move in.

It was in the middle of the day when everything finally fell into place. The final member of Bishop's 'board' had shown up - bearing gifts for the man of the hour, of course. K secured a few smoke grenades to cover her entrance just as the phone rang, and with a groan, she finally picked it up. "Whatever you want, you can shove it," she half hissed. "I'm trying to work here, and that means you leave me the hell alone. Got it?"

"And a bright hello to you too," Pietro said. "Same number, huh?"

"Now is not the time," she said shortly.

"Yeah, well … you need to get in touch soon because you've got the whole group here all shook up."

"They'll get over it," K said flatly. "Now I gotta go. Someone pissed me off."

"What'd they do? Should I duck?"

"No. Just … find a hobby," K said. "The guy's dirty in every way you can come up with, okay?" She paused, and was surprised when Pietro didn't say anything. "Wanda sends her love. If you want to make a call - last four digits are reversed and no one  _self important_ is home right now."

"Perfect," Pietro said with a clear smile. "Thanks. And … try to go as bloodless as possible this time. Huh?"

"Always do," she shot back before she hung up the phone then turned the ringer off and put it away.

As she walked up to the front door of the place, it occurred to her that she probably could have gotten in easily if she'd shown up in a short skirt and a tight top, but … that wasn't going to make the guy any more dead than she was planning on. She noted the guards at the front door, smiled as she passed them by, and then worked her way around to the back, cutting down one guard after another as they crossed her path.

She was just outside of the boardroom door when the alarm was raised, and K responded by pulling the tab on the smoke grenade and tossing it in the door. She held it shut as whoever it was on the opposite side panicked and yanked at the handle, but it wasn't until someone much bigger yanked it open that she was pulled into the room - and a few moments later, the guard that pulled her in found himself bleeding on the floor as K worked her way from one end to the other.

By the time she got to Derek Bishop, the guy was trying to make a deal with her. "Anything you want," he was saying. "Anything. I have ties in every business, everything you could imagine…"

"I don't need you for anything I want," K said as she stalked toward him slowly.

"Power, influence - everyone needs that!" he said, already sweating.

She smirked. "I'm pretty sure I could manage that on my own too." She popped a single claw and let the tip of it dig into the top of the long table in the center of the room as she walked toward him. "And besides, if I let you keep breathing, you'll keep dealing in kids and women and drugs and every other lowlife scumbag thing I've ever seen." She finally had him cornered where he couldn't stumble over the bodies of his friends and guards. "And that doesn't even cover what I was actually sent here for. Weapons against mutants …" K shook her head slowly at that. "Not a smart move, Derek."

When he raised his hands to try to defend himself, she darted forward, quick to nail him before he could make a noise. She stepped back before he could slip to the floor, carefully avoiding everyone that she'd already cut down. She was wiping the blood from her hands when she heard a small noise from the closet down the hall. It wasn't loud enough or big enough to be one of the goons she'd fought off, but she wasn't about to let anyone get away either - down an escape route or through a secret passage. He seemed the type to keep secret passages, anyhow.

She was almost to the closet when she paused outright at another sound, also small, but definitely not related to the ridiculous Board or their lackeys. It was a tiny little sniffling noise.

K frowned. Nothing in  _any_ of the intelligence had mentioned anything about a kid. Bishop himself hadn't even talked about any family the whole time she'd been following him. But once she'd wiped a bit more blood off - as good as she could get - and peeked open the closet door, there she was - all of about three and hiding in the coat closet with a stuffed purple bear and her knees drawn up to her chest.

When the little girl looked up to see K, her eyes went wide for a second before she squeezed them shut again and buried her face in her little purple bear.

"Hey sweetheart," K said quietly. "Are you hurt?"

The girl sniffled a bit and shook her head, barely peeking up over the stuffed ears.

K smiled in spite of herself. "Are you sure?"

The girl looked down at herself to check and then shook her head again.

K glanced at her hands and then backed up a pace. "Well if you're going to stay there … I'm going to wash up really quickly. I got something on my hands that's gross. Do you want me to come back?"

The little girl looked wide-eyed. "I don't wanna be by myself," she said in a tiny voice.

She watched her for a moment and opened the door wide. "Can you see all the way down to the bathroom?"

"Uh-huh."

"That's where I'm going," K told her. "I won't go where you can't see me, okay?"

"Okay," the girl said, hugging her bear a bit closer.

K bit her lip as she watched the girl. She had no idea what to do with this one. And Erik had been clear about only helping mutant kids. But this little girl … she wasn't going to be able to live with herself if she left her behind. She hummed to herself all the way to the bathroom and carefully washed her hands - and took a wet cloth to clean up the blood splatters so she didn't  _look_ like murder walking.

She was almost as clean as she'd been at the start of the evening when she made her way back to the terrified little girl and then sat down cross-legged in front of her. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Katie," the little girl said.

"Oh, that's very pretty," K said. "I'm K. Those are the best letters anyhow, don't you think?"

Katie nodded quietly.

"Do you want to come with me out of this house?" K asked, leaning forward just a little bit.

Katie frowned and hugged her bear tighter. "I'm not s'pposed to," she said.

"What happens if you do?" K asked, doing her best to look clueless and approachable.

"My dad says there's scary monsters out there," Katie said.

K nodded her head slowly. "There are," she agreed. "But you know what? I can get you past them."

Katie picked her head up at that, her eyes wide. "You can?"

K nodded seriously. "You bet. Monsters are scared of me when I get mad, and I know a place that has lots of little kids that are hiding from monsters." She looked around the obviously decorated little girl's room, at the ballerina posters and the purple tutu in the corner. "I was  _told_ they even have a dance studio."

Katie smiled excitedly. "I like dancing!"

"I'm sure you're amazing at it too," K said with a smile. "Do you want to sneak past the monsters? Because if you do …" she gestured to her uniform. "We'll need to make sure you have some  _purple_."

Katie giggled. "That's my favorite color. Even though sometimes Dad forgets and gets pink instead."

K made her best shocked face for her. "How could he forget something that important?"

Katie shrugged. "He forgets lotsa things," she said.

She shook her head slowly. "Well. Let's get you into some of the best color ever, okay?"

Katie nodded slowly and then looked down at her stuffed bear. "Can my friend come too? He's my protector."

"Oh,  _please_ bring him. You don't want him to miss you too much."

Katie giggled and nodded.

K got to her feet and watched as Katie quickly started to dig through her things. She took just a step back and made the call as the little girl shoved a hawkeye shirt into her backpack. They were going to give her a hard time about this sooner or later. But there was no way Erik was going to go along with this one. "Long time, no see. Are you overly busy?" she asked in lieu of a 'hello'.

"How are you even getting this number?"

"Not important," she said quickly, transitioning into what she needed to say. "I have a ballerina here that I'm sure will fail the blood test that I'm supposed to be using. You pick the place if you can take her safely."

There was a small pause and then, "There's an old prep school, about a mile out of Jersey."

"Perfect.  _Thank you._ "

K had barely hung up the phone before little Katie looked up from the purple dress she was wearing backwards. "You calling my dad?"

"You look amazing," K told her. "And no. I don't know where he is. I called the place that will help you hide from monsters." She crouched down again. "And … if you decide you're very brave? They'll teach you how to fight back." her voice dropped down low and she got very quiet. "Because every monster has a weakness."

Katie looked wide-eyed and then nodded. "I can be brave!" she promised.

"I know you can," K agreed before the comm at her hip buzzed with a text that indicated that Erik's group knew what she was up to.  _Blood test first._

K's lip curled back slightly for an instant before she looked up at the little girl. She was going to try to ignore the fact that they  _knew_ there was a kid and didn't tell her. Just for now. "Okay, Katie. I can get you by the monsters. But I need you to be very brave - and let me see your finger." She pulled out a little machine and rested it on her knee along with a little lancet. "It's just a poke, see?" she said, starting up the machine while she showed the little girl the tiny needle.

When Katie was watching carefully, K poked her own finger and smeared the blood on the little strip. "Are you afraid of a tiny poke?"

Katie frowned at the needle but held onto her bear even tighter and let out a little "uh-huh."

The machine beeped and showed a green light and K smirked to herself before she nodded her head. "Want me to show you again how little the poke is?"

Katie shook her head, looking at the machine with her head tipped to the side. "Do I get a green light?" she asked.

"Of course - that's  _your_ green light, Katie."

"Okay," Katie said, her lower lip pushed out a bit as she held out her hand, the other one holding on tight to the bear.

K made sure the poke was quick, and took a moment before she texted back  _Positive. I'll check in soon_ \- then scooped up Katie and gave her a little smile. "Cover your eyes, now, Katie. Some of those monsters are ugly."

Katie nodded and buried her face in her bear, though she was smiling to herself and sucking on her index finger. "I can be brave," she said.

"You  _are_ brave," K told her quietly as she took the little girl through the line up of Brotherhood guards and into the streets. "Just stay how you are until I say so, alright?"

"Okay," Katie said. "But my bear is kinda smelly 'cause I haven't washed him since I played outside."

"Is that why he's purple?" K teased.

Katie giggled. "No, he's purple on  _purpose_."

On the way to the prep school, K took her time and stopped in a few shops … nothing overly major, but since she knew she had time, she was going to use it to make sure this little girl was alright - and that everyone that saw them was firmly under the impression that the girl was a mutant.

"Do you like ice cream?" K asked her as they turned a corner.

"I like chocolate," Katie told her, now skipping happily and holding onto K's hand as she dragged her bear along with her.

"Then you'll like ice cream too," she told her. "We should get some on the way." She pointed to the little ice cream shop down the block and the two of them made their way inside - and even sat down, though Katie was clearly enjoying every second of it as she watched the people walking up and down the street with a broad smile.

"There aren't any scary monsters here," Katie decided as she licked her spoon full of sprinkles. "You got rid of 'em, huh? Didn'tcha?"

"Toldja," K said as she stirred her milkshake, smiling at Katie as she dug into her sundae.

Katie just grinned up at her and nodded. "I'm glad you found me, Mom," she said, digging into the ice cream again.

"Me too, sweetheart."

"I thought you were gone, but you were just fighting monsters, huh?"

K narrowed her eyes for just a moment, but Katie didn't see it - too focused on her ice cream to pay attention. "Had to do it," K said finally. "And there are a lot of monsters still."

Katie nodded, kicking her feet under her chair. "You'll fight 'em all," she said. "And I'm gonna grow up and fight 'em too."

"That's a good girl," K agreed with a nod.

Katie just beamed up at her and went back to her ice cream, even going so far as to hum to herself the whole way through the rest of her ice cream.

When she was done - and mostly cleaned up, the two of them headed back down the street, and when Katie started to lose steam, K scooped her up and let her snuggle in as she kept darting down side roads the closer she got to the old school - and still, she was there before Cyclops. She found a somewhat hidden spot on the roof - well away from anywhere that the X-Men would approach as she settled in and watched the sunset with the little girl snuggled into her shoulder.


	33. Adopted

When Scott did finally arrive at the abandoned prep school in New Jersey, Katie was practically asleep on K's shoulder, just as curled in as the other kids had been with K - not that he was surprised at this point.

"Her name is Katie," K said, low and soft as she ran a hand over the little girl's hair.

"Where did you find her?" Scott asked.

"Not important right now. What is important is that Erik wants them screened now before he'll let me help. He doesn't have a problem with passing on mutant kids, so that … that part should be easier. He will be checking the machine though. To make sure I'm not hiding anything."

Scott frowned all the way through her pause and tipped his head. "And is she?"

"I don't think so. No." She let out a heavy sigh. "I took the test for her so it'll show positive for a mutant. They're not to the point of a DNA test yet, so I think I can still do this for a while longer."

"And you're still sure you don't want to come with us?" Scott asked with a frown. "You can't agree with him on this." He gestured to Katie. "I know you don't."

"No, I don't agree at all. You know that," K said before she looked down at Katie. "But … he's not going to get any better about it. And even if I  _could_ leave, that's not going to help these little ones."

"We could help, you know. More than just as a pick up point. Tony's so close to a breakthrough..."

"I don't think either of you can get me out. Tell him he can spend his time on a more deserving project. He's wasting his time. Besides, it's pretty clear how this is going to play out at this point. And I've put you all in more than enough danger, I think."

Scott watched her for a long time and then let out a breath and held out a hand for Katie. "Just think about it, alright?"

"I have," she told him. "Did I tell you how Erik found me to begin with?" Scott shook his head lightly. "He was looking for Logan." She tipped her head down and gave Katie a little smile. "Hey sunshine, time to wake up. I want you to meet someone, Katie."

The sleepy little girl picked up her head and frowned at Scott a bit. "You said no monsters," she said, holding onto K a little tighter.

"Katie, Cyclops is one of the good guys," K told her with a little crooked smirk. "He scares them almost as much as I do. He and his friends … they're very good."

"You fight monsters too?" Katie asked, her head popping up.

Scott couldn't help but smile her way. "Sure do."

"If you're  _brave_ ," K said with her chin tipped down, totally focused on Katie. "Cyclops can teach you a lot."

Katie stared up at K for a long time and then sniffed a bit. "Okay," she said. "I can be brave."

K's whole expression shifted and she pulled the little girl tighter. "Hey now … he's really good with brave  _big girls_  like you. And there are other brave kids for you to play with. But right now, I need to help  _more_ little kids that are scared of monsters."

Katie nodded and wrapped her arms around K's neck. "Come find me again please, Mom. I miss you."

K kissed her cheek and held her there for a long moment, already having given up on trying to correct her when the tone she used dripped with longing. "You bet I will. Love you, sweetheart."

When Katie finally let go of K and let K shift her to Scott, Scott looked like she could have knocked him over as he stared at K. "Are you sure…"

K shook her head slowly. "I know what it looks like, and I promise you …. It's not what you think. And yes. She'll be safe with you. I can't protect her, and we both know it."

"You can come with her. We'll protect you both. We've got Wolverine on the team and I think we've done okay keeping him away from Magneto," Scott pointed out, still with that same expression on his face.

"If I leave right now - he  _will_ come, and he'll find you  _and_ them when he finds me. I've already been doing all I can to hold him off from attacking your team and Tony's. You have too many in your group that need the distance. You know I'm right."

"Dammit, I don't care," Scott said, which earned a giggle from Katie as the little girl covered her bear's ears. "This is  _wrong_."

"Scott ... " she looked at a total loss before she reached over and covered Katie's ears. "I've known her since this afternoon."

Scott stared at her for a second, holding his breath with one eyebrow raised as he waited for her to continue.

"It's a case of mistaken identity. But I'm not gonna correct her if it helps her get away from all that." She bit her lip and decided to try and elaborate. "I was sent to deal with people that were making weapons against mutants and dealing in trafficking. I went in alone, but they still sent me a text to  _remind me_ to test the kid. They didn't tell me she was there. None of the intel showed it. She's a test. I didn't check Jubilee, but I got away with it because of the Sentinels. I can't. Go."

"Come anyway," he said at last.

"Please, Scott … I need to find out how much he knows about the kids I've already passed you. I don't want him coming after the little ones." Katie had leaned back in Scott's arms so that she was looking up at K with her head on K's chest - smiling still and making silly faces - which only got her a crooked smile and a kiss on the forehead from K as she finally slid her hands over Katie's hair, getting a little giggle as the girl lifted her shoulders to her ears.

Scott shook his head slowly and then let out a breath. "When you're ready… you know how to contact me."

"Thought you wanted me to quit doing that?"

"Shut up and just… listen to what I'm saying  _now_ ," Scott said, shaking his head. He adjusted his grip on Katie so she wouldn't fall out of his arms. "You can save every little kid you come across, but K - that's a bandaid, and you know it. I'm not saying to stop - please, keep doing it. But at some point…" He shook his head. "I'll keep this number."

"You've been changing it on my account, haven't you?"

"It's a security concern. You change yours every time this comes up, too."

"Then don't change pattern," she told him. "I'll find you. I just want to be sure that it won't bite you or anyone else. Same goes for my leaving. If it will cause you backlash … it's not gonna happen."

"You act like we don't get backlash for doing the right thing all the time," Scott said with a small smirk. "We're used to it. Come anyway."

"Careful, Summers. Someone might think you like talking to me."

"More than some of Magneto's other ... "

"Idiots? Yeah, that's not much of a competition."

Scott smirked as Katie grabbed onto his uniform to pull herself up so she wasn't upside down anymore. "Stay safe," he said.

"You too," she said before she booped Katie's nose.

Katie leaned over and kissed K on the nose. "Bye, Mom. Come see me later, okay?"

"Bye, baby. I'll come as soon as I can."

* * *

Charles was waiting as patiently as he knew how for Scott to return from his impromptu pick up. He knew that tensions were still, somehow, rising and Erik's tolerance level was at record lows, so the thought of Scott going off in the middle of this atmosphere without any backup had him on edge.

But even with all of that in mind, when Scott finally knocked gently on the door and entered - with a very small little girl in tow - wearing purple from head to toe, he had to let out a sigh of relief. "I was starting to wonder if it was a trap, finally."

"It took a little longer than usual," Scott admitted as the little girl rubbed her eyes a bit and looked Charles over with her head tipped to the side, clearly having just woken up from a nap on the way over.

"My mom said there was dancing," the girl said sleepily. "An' she said I could learn to fight monsters if I was brave."

Charles looked confused at that but gave the little girl a warm smile. "You can certainly learn both as you get older," he said. "What's your mother's name?"

"Eleanor," Katie said with a smile. "It's pretty, huh? She's really pretty. But she says her name is K, which I think is maybe a superhero name." She straightened up and covered her mouth. "Oh no! You're not s'pposed to know! That's a secret identify!"

 _K claimed it was a case of mistaken identity,_ Scott projected to Charles as Katie squirmed and pushed on his shoulder to be let down and he had to set her down, where she immediately started to weave circles around and through his legs.

 _You don't believe her then, I take it?_ Charles projected back.

 _You should have seen her, professor. The way she was with this girl… I tried to tell her she could come with us; there's no reason she has to leave her behind,_ Scott said, a note of frustration and anxiety apparent even in his mental voice.  _But Katie isn't a mutant, and Magneto has her_ testing  _the kids._

Charles frowned and watched Scott - the distress clear on his face.  _Show me._

Scott simply nodded and let Charles see the way the handoff had gone down - everything from K's admission to taking the test for Katie to the way K and Katie interacted. It was obvious to Charles that Scott simply didn't believe that K had only met the girl that afternoon when Katie was so comfortable with her and K was so affectionate with her. None of the other kids had ever called her "Mom" - and with Katie, K had responded to it so naturally when she did. So it wasn't out of the question that her case was different than the others.

 _This isn't right,_ Scott said when they left the memory of the event.  _She should have - we can protect her!_

Charles looked taken aback for a long moment as he thought it all through and the intrepid little girl in the room grinned up at him. "Do you like purple? 'Cause I like purple," the little girl said, dropping her bear into his lap and simply inviting herself into his chair by climbing up the side.

"Purple can be lovely," Charles said, entranced with the spunky little girl.  _We need a plan._

_We still haven't been able to get her to stay anywhere for long, and Stark's device is nowhere near ready yet - and she's got to be giving up hope, professor. She told me to tell Stark to stop trying... I know she wanted to keep their relationship private. Maybe this is part of that._

"My dad gets me pink things but that's only  _almost_ purple," Katie told Charles as she climbed into his lap and pulled the bear into her lap too.

"You said you were a dancer," Charles said. "What kind of dance do you take, Katie?"

"I'm a ballerina!" Katie said with a  _huge_ grin. "I just started lessons, and I really, really like them."

"Then we'll have to be sure that you get to meet a big ballerina that we know," Charles told her. "I'm sure she'll love to teach you."

Katie beamed at him. "Well,  _duh_. Mom said I could learn here," she said.

"Scott can take you to meet Natasha."

Katie nodded. "Okay. Thanks mister…." She scrunched her nose at him. "Do you got a secret code name or just a normal name?"

"Katie, you may call me Charles," he said with a warm smile. "Or 'Professor' as Scott prefers to do."

"So Charles is your secret name?" Katie asked. "Like.. like…" She pointed at Scott. "You're Scott and also Cyclops, but Scott is secret. Right?"

Scott nodded. "Close enough."  _Maybe we can set something up the next time she contacts one of us,_ he added to Charles.

 _That might be wise,_ Charles projected back.  _Talk to Logan - figure out how to get her down if she won't come along reasonably. And double check to see if Stark has made any progress that he hasn't shared with us._

 _And it'll help to reunite them,_ Scott replied, tipping his head to the little girl before he offered Katie his hand. "Ready to meet your ballet teacher?" he asked as she hopped down to join him, and she took his hand with an enthusiastic smile as he began to lead her down to where Natasha and Clint were.

Katie grinned up at him as they walked, dragging her bear along with her until they got to where Natasha was with her little group - and Katie let out a delighted giggle. "You got a  _whole class fulla dancers!_ "

"Got another one for you," Scott told Natasha - unnecessarily, since Katie was already rushing to the bar and doing her very best warm-ups. "Her name is Katie."

"I can see that," Natasha said before she frowned lightly at Scott. "Are you … alright?"

"I'll talk to you about it later," Scott said, shaking his head and tipping his head significantly at the kids.

"You can always take my assistant," Natasha said. "He's wearing down from lifts already."

But when Natasha indicated Clint, Katie let out a squeal of delight - and then immediately hid behind Natasha's legs. "You got  _Hawkeye_ in your class," she whispered. "Is he learnin' ballet too?"

"He likes to help out sometimes," Natasha said with a purely amused smirk. "You know who Hawkeye is?" She looked up and waved to catch his attention. "Clint - you have a new friend."

Clint grinned as he came over to crouch down to Katie's eye level. "Hey. Katie, right?"

Katie nodded with wide eyes. "Uh-huh."

"You can call me Clint if you want," he said, before he reached out to bop her bear on the nose. "I like your bear."

Katie smiled up at him, suddenly much more shyly. "His name is Arrow."

Clint smirked at that. "That's a pretty awesome name."

"Uh-huh." Katie kept behind Natasha's legs, but she was clearly grinning. "My mom said I'd like it here."

"Oh really?" Natasha said, raising her eyebrow, since it wasn't well known what was going on at Xaviers in the current climate.

"Uh-huh." Katie smiled up at her. "She's gotta go fight monsters, but she says I can stay here while she's gotta do that and she said I can learn more dance while I'm here, so I wanna get real good so I can show her."

Natasha looked up and met Scott's gaze - and it was exceedingly clear that she was on the same page as him as she very slowly nodded. "Of course you can stay here and dance," she told Katie in a gentle tone. "And I'm sure your mother will be here to see you soon," she added, shooting Scott such a look that he was already headed out of the room, trying to figure out how to get this little girl's mother safely hidden away with her  _now_.

Scott was working out a plan in his head as to how he could find the fastest way to bring K in, so he was a bit distracted and almost didn't notice where he was going when Jean came around the corner.

"Someone's strategizing awfully hard," Jean said in a teasing tone. "What went wrong?"

Scott glanced up at Jean and simply shook his head lightly. "I'm not… sure it was something that went wrong so much as a bad choice."

"Bad choice how?" she asked, looking more than a little alarmed.

He frowned even deeper. "I think K just dropped her daughter into our care because she's not a mutant," he admitted. "Magneto has her testing  _kids_ , Jean. She couldn't…" He shook his head. "It's just  _wrong_."

Jean tipped her head as she weighed it out. "I think … I think you lost me somewhere."

Scott ran a hand through his hair. "I met K at a prep school in Jersey; she had this little girl…" He shook his head and sat down after gesturing toward where he'd just been. "Dark hair,  _no fear_  - you should have seen the way they were together, Jean. I've never seen K like that - and I just …" he let out an exasperated noise. "I just stood there and  _let_ her hand me her little girl while she was promising to be  _brave_ for her mom and I should have  _done_ something!"

Jean had no idea how to respond to him for something that so clearly had him upset, so she did the only thing she could and wrapped him up in a tight hug. "We'll fix it."

He rested his head on her shoulder and lightly shook his head. "This is  _wrong_ , Jean," he said quietly. "No one should have to leave their kids like that. It's just  _wrong_. I don't care who it is."

"What can I do to help?"

There was a small pause, and then Scott picked his head up. "Next time she calls, come with me," he said. "I'm bringing her back here, if I have to knock her out to do it."

"Is that particularly wise?" Jean asked. "You'd have to be sure that your little girlfriend isn't around to see her mom carried off the jet."

Scott gave her a dry look for that one, but he had to admit she had a point. "She's in love with Natasha and Clint - we'll talk to them about keeping her busy."

"Then you better talk to the other kids about not running up to see who's coming off the jet," she advised. "You know they all do - and she'll be there with them."

"Then I guess we'll get Stark and Captain Rogers involved too." Scott let out a breath. "I'm  _hoping_ she'll just come with us. I don't know what else we can do to make our case, and if the next step is DNA testing, she's not going to be able to stay with Magneto anyway."

"That's a big step though."

"Yeah, well, that's why you're coming with me," he said with a small smirk.

"Is this for little Katie or … is it something else, too? I know Tony's been immersed in his lab since the word got out about the two of them."

"She still says she doesn't want Magneto to come after her," Scott said, leaning back in a clearly frustrated tone.

"He would, Scott," Jean pointed out. "She knows too much."

"It shouldn't matter," Scott said.

"Sweetheart, you're not thinking tactically now."

"I  _took her kid_!" Scott shouted, throwing up his arms.

Jean stared at him for a moment and then quickly shook her head. "No. She gave her to you for safekeeping. There is a huge difference."

Scott let his shoulders drop slightly and went back to resting his head on Jean's shoulder.

_This is nothing like Alex._

_I know,_ he replied.  _But it's not right._

 _And we_ will  _fix it. Don't go to meet up with her alone again._

 _I don't think I can,_ Scott said. He wasn't projecting his next thought in the least, but Jean could still pick it up.  _I don't want to take another 'brave' kid._

Jean tightened her arms around him and turned her head to kiss him. "You'll have to introduce me."

"Yeah, her name's Katie," Scott said with a small smile - and maybe it was the fact that that's where his head was, but Jean could see just for a second that his thoughts were on a different Katherine telling  _him_ to be brave in a plane with Alex before his mind went back to the little girl down the hall. He took a deep breath then straightened up and scrubbed a hand over his face. "Sorry. I just… gotta take a walk or something. Get my head back on straight."

* * *

After K left Scott and Katie, she knew she had to get to Magneto, and fast. She was of course, happy to see Katie in good hands - but she was  _livid_ that the intel they gave her on this job  _conveniently_ left out the fact that there was a kid. And of course, they knew about her. They had to have.

K went to the old Avengers tower - or what it had become - and made her way over to where a new kid was trying to play gatekeeper on who got in to see Erik. That in itself was a bad idea. "You aren't allowed-" K didn't break her stride as she darted forward to punch the guy in the throat and snapped his wrist when he had the gaul to put a hand on her shoulder. She simply kept walking to the elevator, where Vertigo was supremely entertained.

"He's new," the green haired hypnotist said, stepping in beside her, even though Vertigo herself hadn't been with Magneto for long herself, either.

"He's even dumber than the other ones," K growled out, which had Vertigo smirking to herself.

The two women kept to their own sides of the elevator, but the instant the doors opened, K stalked ahead, unable to control the growl. "That wasn't so hard, was it?" Erik asked as she came up to him. "The child came through as mutant - and you got her to safety. All's well that ends well."

"The problem,  _Erik_ , is that you failed to tell me there even  _was_ a child," she growled out. "Nothing your sources game me so much as  _breathed a word_  about a kid. But you knew enough to send me a message to tell me to test her? What the hell is wrong with you?"

Erik didn't even bother trying to hide his irritation as he drew himself up and glared hard at her. "The only thing that's wrong is the fact that one of my most trusted lieutenants has been refusing to do as I  _say_  while finding more and more time drifting away and remaining out of contact" He came closer to her, and as he did, K found herself unable to move again. "I told you that you could continue your crusade to save children in spite of the fact that I could  _use_ your skills in the field. My offer was a generous one - but since then …. You have continued to  _flout_ my one request to be sure that those you are spending your precious time on are in line with our cause."

"I tested the girl," K shot back, though she couldn't defend herself if she wanted to as Erik bared down on her.

"Yes. This time - after you were prompted. You didn't test the one in California-"

"I didn't  _have_ to test her!" K defended. "She was targeted by a sentinel!"

At that, Erik paused and nodded. "Be that as it may … the fact remains that this time, you had to be told to follow my  _one order_ regarding these child rescues _._ "

K knew she couldn't argue with him on this. Not now - not like this. Even with the proper argument, she needed backup - and here, exposed and restrained by her skeleton, she had neither. Though it didn't miss her notice that he didn't seem quite able to hold his anger when all had gone the way he'd wanted it to. "What is your arrangement with the X-Men? I want to know precisely." K watched him for a moment, and when she didn't answer right away, Erik let his shoulders drop - though his scent only seemed to concentrate the levels of ammonia and musk that signalled that he was only more angry than before. "You've been handing them off - even when they haven't been part of the fight, so just tell me - how is it that you find them so easily for a child, but cannot seem to find them when it comes down to an attack?"

"Cyclops gave me a number to call," K blurted out. "Sometimes it re-routes to a different number - and I haven't been able to trace it back to the source. It's a burner." It was, for all intents and purposes, a bald faced lie, but it was a believable one. And it lined up with how Erik was convinced the X-men were operating, so it seemed to placate him for the time being.

"So you call and hope for the best without knowing where they are," Erik surmised to which K let out a soft 'mm-hmm'. "And the Avengers?"

K carefully controlled her reaction at that. "They've been moving. I can't predict the pattern and I-"

"I want you to concentrate on finding them."

"I told you I won't-"

"If you don't, I'll set Emma on the task. They are the next important strike that must be made and it will require all of my attention when we can get close to them." He looked truly sympathetic. "I know they have been an important symbol to America for the work they've done, but right now - while mutants are rising up in the face of those that have oppressed them, they now symbolize all that was wrong with the old ways. And they must be dealt with." K couldn't quite control the shocked expression on her face - particularly since that was one line she refused to cross. "I know you're as patriotic as the generation of Americans that welcomed me to New York, but my dear girl … they have grown to represent all that we fight against, and their blatant disregard for the atrocities that were committed against mutants is no longer something that can be excused or overlooked."

"They've been helping mutants too, though," K said, almost breathlessly.

"Too little, too late, I'm afraid," Erik replied before he waved Vertigo over. "Vertigo will show you where your equipment is waiting. I'll expect a warning before you go looking for them yourself. I don't want you going near the Avengers alone." He leaned toward her before Vertigo could reach them. "No reason to tempt you into forgetting who you work for."


	34. Practically An Avenger

Katie was still totally tickled with her new friends and her new dance class and her new  _Hawkeye_ friend as she bounced down the halls, following Kitty's lead, because she knew where the snacks were, and they were all worn out after dancing.

Katie was just telling Kitty all about how her mom had taken her out for ice cream before she met Scott when she let out a little  _eep_  and hid behind her bear. " _There's something on the ceiling!_ "

Kitty frowned and then giggled when she saw that Kurt was the "something on the ceiling." She waved her friend back over and pointed up. "It's just Kurt. He does that."

"He's  _blue_."

"Yeah. He's just like that."

Katie stared up at the ceiling for a second, pursed her lips, and then headed to the wall to start trying to climb it - which was obviously not going to happen, but she seemed determined to try. "How do you - how did you get up there?" she asked at last, clearly frustrated by her lack of progress.

"Him and Peter walk on the walls," Kitty explained. "Hi, Kurt!"

"Hello,  _Katzchen_ ," Kurt said before he walked down to where the girls were. "Hello… what is your name?"

Katie glanced at Kitty and then shyly waved at Kurt. "I'm Katie."

"Did you come here with K too?" Kurt asked, his tail swaying curiously.

Katie broke into a  _huge_ grin. "Uh-huh!'" She was bouncing on her feet. "That's my  _mom_! Do you know her?"

"She is your  _mother_?" Kurt stared at Katie.

"Yep! She had to go away to fight monsters, but she said I'd be safe here, and I like it here already!" Katie didn't seem to realize that the other kids were staring at her with their mouths agape. "There's dancing and there's Hawkeye and I promised Mom I'd be real brave and stuff so I'm gonna help. Like - like I bet I can help Mr. Charles and stuff 'cause he sits everywhere…"

Kitty and Kurt both stared at Katie for a long time before Kitty said, "Wow."

Katie grinned and then grabbed both of them by the hands. "Let's get juice! Kitty said we were gonna have apple juice! You should have some too. It's yummy," she informed Kurt - not that she was giving him much say as she pulled her new friends along.

* * *

Of course, knowing what he did about the state of affairs with Tony, Clint couldn't ignore the fact that there was a little girl walking around saying K was her mom. She was old enough that it had to have happened long  _before_ Tony came along, but considering how honestly worried Natasha was, Clint knew Tony was pretty serious about this girl. Which meant he needed to know a few things.

So when the kids had all been sugared up and changed out of their dance clothes - and Katie, to Clint's further amusement, had decided to wear an "I Heart Hawkeye" tee shirt - Clint swept her up with a grin.

"Like your tee shirt, Katie Kate," he said as he tossed her in the air then set her back on her feet.

Katie giggled and shook her head. "It's just  _one_ Katie! I don't got two names."

"Yeah, but you're cute enough for two, Katie Kate," Clint teased.

Katie shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I'm not cute. I'm  _beautiful_."

"Can't argue with that," Clint said with a laugh.

"Nope!" Katie grinned and then darted over to hug him. "You need a tee shirt too," she informed him. "Cause you're  _actual Hawkeye_."

"Sure am," Clint agreed before he scooped her up again. "Wanna come say hi to a friend of mine? He's an Avenger too."

"Oooh, yes please!" Katie said, nodding enthusiastically, so much that her braids bounced.

"Perfect," Clint said, already putting her up on his shoulders so they could go see Tony.

As usual, Tony was working away - though the workshop that he'd set up with the group was a little smaller than usual - but the music was still right where he liked it while he was tinkering. He was working on  _another_ variation on the device to try and isolate K from Magneto, and of course, it wasn't going as well as he wanted it to. So when Clint came in and turned the music down for Katie, Tony had one hand over his eyes as he called out: "Leave my music alone, please!"

"Why is it so  _loud_!" Katie shouted back.

Tony's hand came down quick at the new voice and he frowned lightly. "Helps me think. And you are …. New."

"Came in not long before you got back," Clint said with a nod before he gave Katie a little nudge. "Tell him your name, Katie Kate."

Katie rolled her eyes dramatically. "He gots it wrong  _again_. My name is  _Katie_!"

"He does that," Tony said, frowning when he noticed the Hawkeye shirt. "I'm Tony. Whatcha doin' down here, Katie? Hawkeye giving you the big tour?"

"Uh-huh," Katie said, nodding seriously. "He said you're an Avenger!"

"Yep," Tony said, nodding. "I started the team."

"Oh, wow," Katie said, her eyes wide. "That's really cool!" When Tony nodded, clearly amused with her, Clint whispered something in Katie's ear, and she let out a squeal. "You're  _Iron Man?_ Really?"

Tony couldn't help but smile at that as he nodded. "Sure am. You come down to learn tech stuff with Peter?"

Katie shrugged. "I dunno. Hawkeye just said he wanted me to meetcha." She popped the last word and waved both hands. "Hi!"

Tony was chuckling at that. "Well come and take a look at some of the new arrows I'm coming up with for Hawkeye. Maybe you can come up with a better idea than his 'boomerang' arrow."

Katie scrunched up her nose. "What's a boomerang arrow? That sounds  _weird_."

Clint shook his head, already thinking to himself that he really should have seen the teasing coming before he prompted Katie, "Why don't you tell Iron Man here how you found us?"

"I didn't find you, silly! My  _mom_ did!" Katie said, rolling her eyes at Clint with one hand on her hip. "Duh."

"Doesn't sound too odd to me," Tony said as he handed Katie a net arrow and teasingly had her point it toward Clint to show her how it worked.

Katie was already giggling as she played with the arrow mechanism before she looked up at Tony. "My mom is really cool," she said. "She said she knew a place where I could hide and do ballet and stuff!"

Tony frowned slightly at that with a little 'huh' just before he showed Katie how to make the net trigger. After all … precious few people knew that the X-Men were still taking in refugees … and no one outside of the mansion knew that they had access to ballet classes.

Katie burst out laughing with Tony when the net wrapped around Clint, leaning against Tony and still giggling. "I like that arrow!"

"It's a fun one," Tony said. "Wonder what else we can test out on him …"

"Aww, come on. Really?" Clint said, shaking his head as he disentangled himself.

"You could take over for Hawkeye if you keep it up, Katie," Tony said with a smirk. "You already caught him on the first try."

Katie giggled delightedly. "Yes please!" she sang out. "I wanna be an Avenger! I can be real brave, I promise!"

"You're practically an Avenger already for catching him," Tony laughed. "That's more or less how he joined the team, you know."

Katie beamed at Tony. "I can't wait to tell my mom!"

"Where's she at?" Tony asked. "I'm sure she'll want to hear it."

Katie shrugged. "I dunno," she said, both palms outturned. "She had to go fight monsters."

But Tony stopped smiling at that and looked over to Clint for confirmation. "What kind of monsters?" he asked, even as Clint was slowly nodding so Tony new his suspicions were correct.

"I dunno. Prolly monsters like whoever killed all my dad's friends," Katie said in a perfectly matter-of-fact tone.

Tony had absolutely no idea where to go with that little tidbit though, and instead gave Clint a look that clearly was waiting for the other shoe to drop. "That … sounds like it could be dangerous for a mom. How does she fight monsters?"

Katie shrugged. "By being  _awesome_ , duh."

"Obviously," Tony agreed, though he was seeing the same similarities that Scott had seen. Dark hair. Clearly fearless, even in the company of two well known superheroes … he just couldn't see any facial markers in common.

Katie grinned and nodded, though when she didn't look like she had anything else to add, Clint added, "We don't really know much about her dad, but K's the one that handed her off."

Tony nodded at that. "She's brought a lot of kids here," he said, though he still hadn't quiet caught on with what Clint was hinting at.

Katie nodded seriously. "My mom is pretty cool, huh?"

Tony stopped and blinked a couple of times as he looked at Katie, then over to Clint. "Is … she's … K's your  _mom_?"

"Uh-huh!" Katie said happily. "Have you met her?"

Tony was clearly not expecting that at all and instead was trying to study Katie a little closer. "Ah … yeah. Yeah, I sure have."

Katie beamed. "She's really cool. I mean, I miss her lots, but she says she has to help people, and one day, I'm gonna help kids and rescue 'em from monsters just like  _she_ does!"

"Well," Tony said, starting to get back some of his usual sass. "We should ... probably have you follow around someone more like Black Widow. Hawkeye will just teach you how to get bandages."

"She's my dance teacher!" Katie told him happily. "Mom said you guys had one, and I like her!"

Tony opened his mouth, thought about it for a moment then snapped it shut before he gave her a little smile. "That's perfect then," he said. "Are you going to dance the bad guys into giving up?"

Katie giggled. "No, silly! I'm gonna catch 'em with net arrows!"

Tony grinned at her for that. "We'll have to make you a bow then," he said before he simply picked her up and set her up on the workbench. "Just need some measurements. Try not to shoot Clint with any more net arrows while I get my stuff." He paused at the next workbench over and held up one finger. "But … if you're going to, they're the ones with the purple ends."

Katie fell apart laughing at that. "That's my favorite!"

"Of course it is," Clint laughed, scooping her off the bench before she could follow through and  _actually_ get him tangled up in a net.

* * *

Logan was  _trying_ to get some work done on his bike. It seemed like he had less and less time available as Magneto's latest push against humans ramped up. But the truth of it was that it wasn't Magneto's doing as much as it was the herd of kids that seemed to show up almost everywhere he went.

It always started the same - Kurt would show up first, creeping along the wall or crawling on the ceiling until Logan acknowledged him, then it was just a matter of time before Peter, then Sam and Paige, then Kitty … until Logan was left with no room to actually get work done on the bike. Which, for the most part was alright. Except that he really needed to get it done. If for no other reason than to escape the kids.

But … he wasn't expecting their newest addition to climb right into the middle of things to the point of popping up between him and the bike, tucked right in between his knees as she inspected the chrome. "Ooooh, that's  _shiny_ ," she said, reaching out to touch the chrome air filter cover - though he quickly reached out and stopped her from doing exactly that.

"Woah, no touchin' that, little darlin'. I just got done polishin' that," Logan said. As soon as he let go of her hand she pulled both hands tight to her chest, her hands balled into little fists as she tiptoed closer to the bike.

"That's a really pretty red, but it'd be a  _lot_ prettier if it was purple," Katie offered helpfully, turning to grin up at him, nodding all the way. "Purple's my  _favorite_."

Logan raised an eyebrow at that. "I can see that." After a moment of Katie asking what everything on the bike was that was shiny - twice - and then asking six times in a row if she could  _drive_ it when she could reach the controls, Logan finally had his fill of what he could and couldn't handle around his bike and a gaggle of kids. With no warning, he reached out and picked her up by her armpits only to twist at the waist and set her down  _not_ directly in front of him. "Why don't you go pile on Hawkeye?" Logan suggested. "He likes it when you do that."

"Well alright, but we already  _did_ that and Miss Natasha said we shouldn't beat him up so much," Katie said before she leaned toward Logan and let her voice drop down to a loud whisper. "Because he's a  _boy_ and he can't take it."

"Alright, that's it," Logan said as he got up and scooped Katie up to sit on his shoulders. They barely got into the house when Logan called out to her. "Tasha, you gotta quit lyin' to these kids."

"What did I lie about?" Natasha asked, though Logan noticed she'd just straightened up as he walked in. For a moment, he narrowed his eyes at her before he looked toward Clint who was leaning back with his hands behind his head and a nearly illegal grin. "I said the boys around here can't take it as much as the girls can and clearly," she gestured to Logan and the pre-Kindergarten crowd around him. "I wasn't lying."

Logan chuffed out a breath and set Katie down. "Go get Scooter."

Katie wrinkled up her nose as Kitty and Kurt each took a hand and pulled on her to follow them. "I dunno a  _scooter_."

"Sure you do," Logan said as Kitty broke down into giggles. "Tall guy. Wears sunglasses inside. After dark. In a thunderstorm."

At the description, Katie lit up, and when she proclaimed "Oh! Scott-Cyclops!" Clint broke down laughing, even as Natasha gently tried to get him to stop and the kids skipped over to pile on Scott.

"You better stop sendin' em out to find me," Logan said, pointing a finger at Natasha.

She rested one hand over her heart and shook her head. "I wouldn't do that. Not when I know you're getting a break from them. They found you on their own,  _malen'kiy dyadya_."

Logan glared a little harder, but it was hard to sustain when the next sound they all heard was the roar as the little kids  _tackled_ Scott in his office sending papers flying and things crashing. Logan never dropped eye contact even though both he and Natasha were trying very hard to keep their serious faces even as they could hear it echoing down …

"Woah! What … Peter, no, I'll take care of … Kurt - it's okay, really, I can clean that up just don't-"

_Crash!_

A beat of silence echoed the halls before mad giggling and the pitter patter of feet preceded the stampede of kids  _running_ from Scott.

"Don't you think you should see what kind of damage your minions caused?" Natasha asked.

Logan smirked then turned to see the kids running hard for the backyard. "Maybe I will," Logan said before he strolled down to see how bad it was. Of course, a peek into Scott's office showed exactly what had happened - if the footprints on the window and ceiling were anything to go by. Papers were scattered across the room - a few still floating down and one was stuck in the light fixture hanging from the ceiling. Scott's lamp was on the floor, and his chair was tipped over along with the little houseplant he kept in the window. Dirt was everywhere, but he'd managed to keep them from knocking over the coffee.

Scott looked at a loss as he took in the disarray that was, until moments ago, his pristine office. And as he started to work with a heavy sigh, Logan turned and headed for the backyard, with Natasha close behind him. "You're not rewarding them," she said when she caught up to him.

"What're you talkin' about?" Logan asked, once again frowning at her. "I was just gonna see if they know how to have a water war. Just in case someone left the top off their car."

Natasha couldn't even hide her laugh or the grin that went with it as the two of them headed out to the cheering kids.

* * *

K on the other hand, had barely been allowed out of her room since she'd returned to Avalon. She didn't need to confirm or deny anything when it came to the Avengers when Erik was so convinced she had some kind of connection there. "Why  _else_ ," he had reasoned, "would you try and stand in my way to protect them?"

No answer on earth would have placate him. Not when his mind was made up. And K had seen enough of his madness to know it. So instead of spending her time protecting the X-Men and the Avengers, she had to pare it all down to a single message to both Scott and Tony:  _Erik has pulled me from your details. Encrypt everything with new code. Take it off-line if you can. Go blackout._

She didn't know if the message had gotten through - but she knew that she wouldn't get a good crack at another one until Erik was off of Avalon. Particularly since even Wanda and the twins weren't allowed to visit her. Of course … that only made her conversations with Vision - who had no reservations about simply going through the wall - that much more important for intel and formulating her  _own_ plan.


	35. I'm Saving You - Like It Or Not

There was a long stretch, comparatively, before Scott got another phone call requesting a pick up from K. There was so much that had happened since the last time he'd seen her - and though they'd gotten her message weeks ago - that had only set Tony's project to save her back. Instead of obsessing over the Adamantium exclusion, he was coding and securing their servers and all the data - encrypting their comms, and working fast enough to be distracting to anyone even halfway paying attention. It was almost funny, then, when Scott had left for the last thing he saw before loading up was Tony hard at work on a laptop with Peter looking over one shoulder and Kitty looking over the other - both of them entranced with the lines of code whipping past.

Which was good to see - the kids finding which adults suited them best ... but... Jean wasn't able to join Scott like they'd plotted out to do. By random chance, she was out on a pick up mission of her own, and there really wasn't time to wait by the circumstances that K had called under. But he had no intention of going alone. Not again. So instead of Jean, Scott had Hank go with so at the very least, he wouldn't be going in to another brave kid situation alone.

As usual, Scott had no idea where K was before she melted out of the shadows - from an entirely different direction than he'd expected. This time she had a little boy that was whispering jokes to her at high speed.

"...because it had so many problems!"

"You're  _hilarious_ , kiddo," K told him with a muted smile - her eyes dancing as he beamed at her. K was shaking her head as she carried him toward Scott and Hank. "What's the story here?" she asked, tipping her chin to Hank, though she kept the easy, friendly appearance. "Since when do you come with muscle?" She was eyeing both of them suspiciously, and it was clear that the two of them in tandem had her nervous.

"Beast is here to help with the little guy. I wanted to talk to you," Scott said.

"Okay." K frowned and looked between the two of them again before she slowly walked toward Hank - though she didn't take her eyes off of Scott. "This little genius is named Miles. He knows every knock knock joke ever created."

"And some other ones too," Miles said with a grin.

"Yeah, and yours are way better, little man," she promised him with a smirk. "Very punny."

He grinned proudly as Hank gently took him out of K's arms, and he had absolutely no problems with the handoff, immediately trying to prove K right by launching into knock-knock jokes with Hank.

Scott waited until Miles was fully engrossed with Hank before he turned to K. "Come with us."

"I can't," she told him. "You know that."

"Yes, you can," he said. "We'll work out a way to protect you, but this has got to stop."

She crossed her arms and took a step back. "If you don't want the kids, say so. I'll figure something else out."

Scott frowned at that. "Of course we'll take them. But they're not my only concern right now."

She frowned deeper at that. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about bringing you back with me," Scott said. "Not just because you  _know_ this whole thing is wrong but because Katie's still waiting on a visit and I think it should be more than just a handoff, don't you?"

She let out a heavy sigh. "I told you, Scott; she's not my little girl."

Scott didn't look like he believed her in the least. "So that's it - you're just going to keep … doing this."

"Saving kids? Yeah, that's the plan. For as long as I can."

"You could do that on this team, you know."

She shook her head slowly at him. "I can't leave. He won't let me. I know you understand that much."

"Yeah, I do. Which is why you should do it anyway."

"I'm at a major disadvantage when it comes to him," K said.

"Then you're in luck, because I'm not scared of him," Scott said with his chin tipped up.

She couldn't help but smile at his determination. "I know you're not. But he's got some very plausible methods of killing me if I don't do what I'm supposed to, alright? I'd like to get as many kids out as I can before that happens." Her tone perfectly conveyed that she knew it wasn't just a possibility, but an eventuality.

Scott stared at her for a second before he shook his head. "Yeah, no. That's - no."

"Not your most eloquent," she said, taking a few steps back.

"How many other ways do you want to hear 'that's wrong'?" Scott shot back.

"I don't need to hear it," she replied. "I know. I just can't do anything about it. Except what I'm already doing, which is helping as many innocent kids as I can." She shook her head and turned to walk off. "Thank you, Scott, by the way. I know I haven't said it as much as you should hear it, but I really am glad you've been here to take these kids."

But as soon as she turned, Scott put a hand to his visor and fired off a beam meant to knock her out, already striding her way once he'd fired it off and shaking his head to himself, since he definitely hadn't wanted to have to knock her out - but that was why he and Hank had come separately.

He bent down and hoisted K over his shoulders and simply took off back toward where he'd stashed the jet - and he was even within sight of it when he felt the unmistakable tug as K's metal skeleton was magnetized and lifted up, and for as much as he dug in on his heels, Scott felt his feet leave the ground too.

When he finally slowed with her - and looked up to see Magneto  _studying_ him, he didn't have a chance to even say anything before Magneto let the both of them drop to the ground. "What kind of trick is this?" Erik asked. "What are you doing with my lieutenant?"

"She asked me to take a kid she found," Scott said with his chin thrust out.

But that had Erik blinking at him for a moment before he turned toward Vertigo. "Did she report back anything about a child?"

"The device wasn't used today," Vertigo confirmed with a smirk. "If she handed off a kid, it wasn't a mutant."

"Even if it was," Erik said, narrowing his eyes at Scott. "I thought these hand offs were neutral, yet here you are trying to kidnap one of mine."

Scott tipped his chin up and met Erik's gaze. "You can't call anyone one of yours that you keep through  _threats_ ," he shot back.

Erik let out a hollow laugh. "What  _threats_ are you talking about?"

"Let her pick her own side," Scott said.

"She has," he replied with a sneer.

"And if she's changed her mind?" Scott shot back.

"I don't need to answer to you," Erik replied in a booming voice. "K made her choice long ago. She belongs with us, regardless of whatever it is you have in your deluded little mind."

"You're just mad I'm  _right_!"

He gestured to K with one hand and yanked her hard away from Scott. "Just because she's showing some measure of pity to small children does  _not_ mean anything."

"It does if you can't show anything like it," Scott said without losing an inch of the conviction in his voice.

"And where is this  _mystery_  child now?" Erik drawled out.

"Already on the way to safety."

"Then the terms of her meetings have changed," he surmised. "No more."

"Fine," Scott bit out before he simply put a hand to his visor and leveled an optic blast Erik's way, already moving toward K. "Then we'll just leave," he added almost under his breath as he picked her up again to sling her over his shoulder and take off at a run to the jet.

Partway back though, K woke up and took in her situation quickly before she started to struggle. "Put me down - what the hell do you think you're doing?" She pulled hard to get out of Scott's grip and finally managed to get him to let go enough that she got to the ground. "You're going to get yourself killed."

"I could say the same to you," he shot back.

"Yeah? Well at least I'm trying to help someone worth the time - get the hell out of here before … you're going to get it."

"I told you I'm not scared of Magneto," Scott shot back. "We're on the same side here."

"What did you  _do_?" she asked, staring down the way they'd come and listening to the muted sounds of people screaming.

"Knocked you both out. Now come on - we don't have much time," Scott said.

"No -  _you_ don't have much time," she corrected. "Get out and go."

"I'm not going to stand by," Scott insisted.

"I don't … you need to run, you're not standing by anything. He's not going to let you just … bounce back to Westchester." she reached up and pushed him back a few steps. "Get OUT." The sounds of the people coming were getting louder and it was clear Scott was refusing to cooperate at all. " _Please_  go - I'll figure out how to get loose, but you have to go now."

"I can take you somewhere that's not Westchester," Scott offered.

She stared at him open mouthed for a moment. "Scott. He found me across an entire continent. And he's not the only one that can do it either. There are implanted tracers - too deep for me to dig out and I'm not risking your medical set up to let you do it! You aren't going to be able to hide me."

"We can…" Scott didn't get to finish whatever his next thought was, though, instead completely derailed by the metal bars that started flying his way. He blasted through a few before they could hit him, but the fact of the matter was that there were too many on all sides, and once he got his feet knocked out from underneath him, it didn't take long at all before Scott was wrapped up and unable to move - though he was surprised to see K in a similar position nearby.

"Since you found it so attractive to bend the rules that  _you_ set forth initially, I think it's long past time I set rules of my own," Erik said as he floated over to the pair of them, obviously furious with having been attacked. "You tried to take one of my closest lieutenants, so I think it's only fair that I return the favor. You'll be coming with us, Mr. Summers."

"Still can't get anyone to come with you except by force," Scott shot back.

"You really think that's all this is?" Erik replied with one eyebrow raised. "How very short-sighted."

Scott glared up at him. "I know you're scared to let her go," he said.

"Scott … leave me out of this," K said, totally relaxed in her almost cocoon of metal before she looked up to Erik. "I didn't run." She paused as he watched her with an interested look. "I was  _trying_ to get him to run."

Erik let out an interested sort of sound and then simply picked both of them up and began to stride back to where they'd started. "What exactly did you think was going to happen here, Mr. Summers? Did you picture yourself as the brave hero - turning one of my  _evil_ mutants against me?"

" _I_ didn't have to do anything. You're the one turning your own people against you," Scott said evenly.

"What proof do you have of that?"

"I know when you started picking and choosing which innocent  _kids_ could be saved, you lost  _any_ claim to the moral high ground," Scott said with a glare.

"And you think that her giving you some of these children is solid evidence that she is on your side of that very archaic argument?"

"I think it's evidence she's got a  _soul_ ," Scott said. "You've lost yours."

"Oh, is that what this is all about? Well, you're wrong. You see, young man, K has been close to my own grandchildren for years. It's just part of how she works. Looking out for the youngest around. I had no issues with that, but … if you're going to try to use it against her … then it simply cannot stand." Erik took a moment to let that sink in. "Her  _mercy_ is not a change of heart. It's simply something that she's always done."

Scott shook his head. "I'm not using it  _against_  her. I just know I can't stand by while you  _force_ people to work for you. You've lost all sight of the moral ground  _you_ said you had."

"I haven't forced her to fight, have I?" Erik challenged. "In fact, out of everyone that I've had on my side of this little skirmish, she's one that I haven't pushed into battle. I've even tried to protect her from much of it, had you been paying attention." He leaned forward. "And if what you're alleging were true, Mr. Summers, and I was punishing those that were refusing to fight, or fighting against me - you would both be dead."

"It really gets under your skin when someone else is right, doesn't it?" Scott said.

"So much," K said, not even trying to hide it anymore. "And about anything at all." Erik glared her way, though from the way he drew in a breath and almost rolled his body away from her, it was plainly clear that this was  _not_ the first time that Erik had heard as much from her. K turned her head to wait for Scott to meet her gaze before she started to smirk. "Like how the stupid fake meteoroid isn't real easy to keep aloft anymore."

Scott stared at her for a second before he broke into an honest grin. "Oh, sure," he said, nodding.

"Or how support has been waning more and more since the Morlocks started terrorizing people…"

"Hey, that's what happens when you become the thing you say you're fighting," Scott said, the grin stretching even wider - as he was sure to project everything he heard as loud as he could, so that Jean or Charles would hear it.

"It's just a shame that the base in Antarctica isn't finished yet …" Before she could continue, out of nowhere, a piece of metal sheeting wrapped itself partway around K's head - effectively stopping her from speaking any further. The fact that at first it covered not only her mouth, but her nose too was alarming and Scott stared at her as her eyes widened and she started to struggle to find a way to breathe - until Erik let the metal slip from over her nose.

Scott glared Erik's way for a moment before he heard Charles' projected voice:  _We're coming to get you both._

_Thanks, Professor._

"Try not to make yourself more trouble than you're worth, my dear," Erik said as he patted K on the head while she sucked in air greedily. But with K gagged and Erik not in the mood for discussion, things were pretty silent before they met up with the rest of Erik's Brotherhood at what was once Avengers Tower.

"So what'd she do now?" Pyro asked in a sneer when he saw K.

"That's none of your concern," Erik said, flatly ignoring him. "You should be preparing for the trip back to Avalon."

"Wouldn't be a problem if you just got a handle on her," Pyro muttered. "What's with the little geek?"

"I think it's time that we taught Charles' favorite what the world is all about," Erik said. "And it's  _not_ that pitiful little dream that he refuses to let die."

"No, apparently, it's how to lose with grace and poise," Scott said dryly.

Erik spared him a very unamused look, but more or less ignored the jab. "How long until all the supplies are ready?"

"Maybe an hour," Pyro replied, though he was glaring at Scott.

"Keep an eye on these two," Erik said before he simply dropped both of them where they had been floating and left them with Pyro.

They hadn't been there for long before, of course, Pyro left them alone - not in the mood at all to babysit two stationary metal wrapped potential adversaries. And of course, there wasn't anything that could be said when K had her head half wrapped up in metal.

They'd been there for a little while when there seemed to be a definite uptick in activity in the main room down the hall, though when Scott turned his head to look at K, she was staring straight ahead of herself almost unblinkingly.

The activity increased further, and before long he could hear shouting from both ends of the hallway shortly before everything metallic in the room - including Scott and K began to float.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and guess something went wrong," Scott said, looking K's way.

She didn't move or even respond behind the metal covering her face when Erik entered the room a few moments later, flanked by several of his best - and stupidest followers. Including the White Queen. He was glaring hard at K, already convinced that he knew where the source of his trouble was. "Who helped you?"

K didn't look the least bit bothered by his accusation and her only response was to raise an eyebrow, though even Scott could see that if she'd been able to talk, she'd have called him some kind of choice name just then.

"If this is how all your interrogations go, I'm not surprised you're still not as powerful as you want to be," Scott said with a glare. "She  _can't_ answer you. Unless you're just here to yell at her."

Erik stared at him for a moment, then glanced between the two of them before he flicked his wrist and tore off the metal around her head - not bothering to be gentle or nice about it, and not looking concerned in the least when the edge of it cut her from her ear nearly to her nose deep enough to show the shining metal on her cheekbone for a moment - and so that Scott could clearly see the damage. "Who helped you?"

"No one in your circle has ever helped anyone but themselves," K snarled back, not even bothering to try to stop the growl that followed it.

It was almost too loud for Scott to hear the chatter on Pyro's radio … that apparently an entire cell block was emptied while K was out handing the kid over. But when he did, he didn't bother to hide his smirk.

"You did this," Erik said between gritted teeth.

"I don't know what you're talking about," K said in a flat monotone as Erik advanced, looking more and more furious with each step. And with every step, Scott could hear the metal rebar wrapped around her scraping and crackling as he tightened it more and more. But when it was clear he wasn't  _stopping_ , Scott had to step in - seeing as the whole  _point_ had been to get K back safely.

"It was the perfect distraction," Scott blurted out to get Erik's attention. And when Erik spared him a glance, he just ran with it. "Coming after K - drawing you out."

"Oh really?" K said in a rasp. "Where are the cells, Cyclops?"

Scott just ignored her. "That's why the drop-off was different. It was a two-part mission," he said, keeping his gaze on Erik.

Erik glared between them, and a moment later, Scott's metal tightened up too, not nearly as badly as K's had, but effectively making it hard to get a full breath. "Since your lie wasn't as large." He turned toward Pyro with a glare. "The supplies will come later. I want out of this building before Charles and his band of merry men decide to show."

"Couldn't agree more," Pyro said, smirking at the chance to get  _moving_ as he headed off to make the final preparations.

"Leave them to me," Emma said with a smile, one shoulder touching the wall as she leaned on it.

"Oh, no. That … just … kill us. The smell is too much," K said in her most pained tone.

Emma shot her a glare and shook her head. "If I have an invitation…"

"You couldn't manage it with a freakin' brigade backing you up, you talentless,  _weak,_ lopsided bottle-blonde hack," K shot back.

"Manage what, fighting you while you lie drooling on the floor?" Emma sneered. "Really. You think too much of yourself."

"Haven't drooled yet. That's far more your speed," K said coolly. "Like you are. Right now. Looking at this gentleman. He has something called  _class_ , White Trash." She turned toward Scott. "That's her code name with everyone here. No idea how the press keeps screwing it up."

Scott smirked lightly and shook his head. "It's a mystery."

"Really," Emma said in a scoff, though she was almost circling now. "I don't stoop to drooling, you little animal. But I  _do_ appreciate a solid chiseled jaw," she added, finally coming to a stop beside Scott and lightly trailing her fingers down the line of his jaw.

Scott pulled back as much as he was able, his mouth in a tight line. "I'm not-"

"Oh, we can get to the fun part later, darling," Emma said, waving him off. "First, there are a few secrets to share." She smirked and concentrated, obviously trying to break through Scott's defenses to see just how best to get to the X-Men.

K let Emma get to it for a moment, waiting for just the right shift in her scent that happened when she was concentrating hard. "Still … you'd think for what you paid to get your body to look the way you do, that you wouldn't be able to see your own chisel marks from all that construction…I'll bet your ass feels like a topographical map. Looks like one anyhow. But ...I don't think guys like that kind of thing."

Emma let out a frustrated sound and rolled her eyes K's way. "Not that you'd know, but this  _is_ the finest body money can buy."

"That … doesn't really say much," K said. "I'm sure if we could find someone willing to compare … but … any guy I've ever been around prefers the real deal to plastic and scaffolding."

"Do I get a say in any of this - because I prefer the girl I have," Scott put in, looking like he wasn't entirely sure what to do with either of them.

"Please," K said. "I wasn't trying to seduce you. I was just pointing out … like most men, your record leans to the natural. In all things … especially hair color." She smiled up at Emma. "I know why you picked blonde … you couldn't hack it against the other brunettes - obviously. And red would wash you out … best to stick with pasty and pale and … sad."

"If you want to project your own shortcomings, do it elsewhere," Emma sniffed, still with one hand on Scott's shoulder.

"Please, tell me what my shortcomings are," K said. "I'll wait."

"Where to start," Emma breathed out with a sort of malicious smile.

"Stalling," K replied. "Just start anywhere."

"And there is one of them," Emma said, waving a hand her way. "You have no patience. You have no tact. You are as ugly inside as you are out. Pale and small and really - do you have any idea what you weigh? No man wants to carry that around."

"Haven't heard any complaints. I don't worry about it when the fact is that I'm still several sizes smaller than you." She paused. "Without the help of a corset."

Emma's eyes narrowed. "You are also much shorter - don't talk fashion with me when all you can manage is a frumpy little attempt at off-the-rack chic."

K chuckled. "I'm the furthest thing from frumpy," she laughed. "And last I heard, I wasn't short of admirers … without even needing to try to poach off of someone else. That's just … so, so trashy. Tacky. New money and … really, Emma."

Emma laughed. "You're missing the point," she said. "I see what I want, and I have it."

"Funny that you're the only one doing the chasing."

Emma's eyes flashed, and she sneered as she crossed the room toward the door. "I think I will give you what you asked for earlier," she snapped before she left. "And let him kill you. Slowly."

"Yeah, that won't happen," K muttered as Emma left. "Not on her word."

Scott shook his head. "Don't… you're really just making things worse for yourself," he pointed out.

She let out a patient breath. "She fancies herself a telepath, and I have it on good authority that she's fair to middling."

But at that, Scott shook his head. "Are you kidding? I'm dating Jean Grey. I've been working with Charles Xavier since I was a kid!"

"And she's not here right now, so … what does that mean?" K asked. "I have natural defenses against most … so …"

"And I've spent years developing defenses that would take ages for anyone to breach," Scott said.

K relaxed at that. "I didn't know. I was just trying to throw her off her game so she'd back off of you."

"The only thing she'd see would be a lot of locked doors and chests. She doesn't have the key," Scott said.

She nodded. "Doesn't matter, Erik's not going to kill me yet. Not for her. She's had too low of a production rate on information. And she's skittish. First sign of trouble she shifts to diamond form."

Scott smirked. "Jean doesn't have that problem."

"The skittish or the low self esteem?" K asked.

"Yes."

"She seemed nice enough," K said. "For a telepath, anyhow." She leaned her head back and stared up at the ceiling, wondering how long it was going to be before someone  _else_ appeared. It had to be a matter of timing more than anything.

"She's the best thing that ever happened to me," Scott said honestly.

"That's sweet," she replied quietly.

"It's the truth."

"Wasn't a knock," she clarified. "I just hope you get back to her. That's all."

Scott shook his head. "The X-Men are coming after us. And I'm not going to let you die in the meantime."

"You're a bigger idiot than I thought you were then."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment," Scott said. "Since you won't listen to reason."

"Do you tie your own shoes?" she asked. "Because I'm starting to wonder."

Scott glared at her for a second and shook his head lightly. "You'll see."

K shook her head at him, though it wasn't long before the Blob arrived to load the two of them up too, simply carrying them to the transport to Avalon past the confusion and chaos they could hear nearby, and unceremoniously dropping them in place before Pyro was the last one in, shutting the doors behind him with almost a flourish.

"We are so out of here."

"Makes perfect sense. Complain about being cooped up to go up to be cooped up," K said. "Freakin' mouth breather."

"Doorstop," Pyro shot back at her before he simply kicked the side of her head - really the only part that wasn't encased in metal - though he had a hitch in his step when he sat down again.

"That was exceptionally idiotic," K said when she saw him limping, though it was clear she was hurting too. "That means ' _really really dumb_ '."

"You'd think you wouldn't be surprised anymore," Scott said almost under his breath.

"No matter how low you set the bar, he'll limbo under it," she replied.


	36. Let's Make A Deal

Charles didn't waste any time in putting the word out to his team - though when most of them gathered up - even with the kids following them, the Avengers in attendance did as well. "What's going on?" Steve asked as he and Tony joined the group.

Natasha and Clint were already there, having been joking with Logan when he got the message from Charles. "They're going to rescue Cyclops," Natasha said. "And one of us should go along to help."

"Woa-wait. Cyclops … didn't he just go to pick up another kid?" Tony asked. "That's what he said on the way out when he snagged the Cookie Monster from the lab. Or was that just an excuse to pull Hank off the project?"

"Hank hasn't returned yet, though he should be here soon," Charles said. "But yes, they were going to pick up a child in need."

Tony narrowed his eyes at that. "Then why'd they take two jets?"

Jean and Charles shared a look, but Jean answered for him. "Scott … was going to get K out of there. Whether she wanted to go or not."

That was enough, though to have Tony looking slightly alarmed. "And now  _he_ needs a rescue. Sounds like his kidnapping went off without a hitch." He started pacing before he pointed a finger toward Charles and Jean. "This is why we were trying to get a device together!  _I_ could have gotten her out of there  _without a fight_."

"Tony, you don't know if that's the case or not," Jan said gently. "She told you to stop working on it, didn't she? What's to say she wouldn't turn you down too?"

Tony gave her a look that clearly said what he thought of that, but he didn't respond to her. "I want in. I'm going with."

"I don't think that's a great idea," Steve said. "All the intel she had - everything that we got through the loopholes she sent us … Magneto wants to take you out of the game. She worked hard to try and protect you. You need to let us take care of it."

"So what? You think you're gonna go for Scott and leave her there?" Tony asked - and right then, it was clear how much he  _hadn't_ been sleeping and how hard he'd been working with Rhodey and Hank to find a way to make his device  _work_. Which was that much harder when they didn't have the sample they needed to calibrate the machine.

"Of course not," Jean said gently. "Scott was captured trying to make sure she was safe. We're not going to undo that. He wouldn't leave without her at this point." She gave him a pointed look.  _For Katie's sake. Though I wouldn't let her stay for your sake if this is how it's affecting you._

Tony glanced up at her, though he still didn't look happy in the least as Steve stepped in. "Professor, I know it's not my place, but I want to be a part of this mission, if I can," Steve said. "I know he's your team leader, but I feel somewhat responsible for him - whether he knows it or not. I don't want to be on guard when anything goes south on these kids." He turned toward Jean. "No offense."

"None taken," she replied with a smile.

"Of course, you're welcome to go," Charles replied. "No metal, of course. We'll meet Hank in the hangar."

"Wait -  _we_?" Tony said, leaning toward him. "Who's  _we_?"

"Jean, Captain Rogers, and myself," Charles said.

"Now wait a damn minute," Logan broke in. "If you're goin' up to have a throw down with Magneto I want in."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" Tony said, gesturing at Logan. "You've got a metal skeleton! What're you gonna do against a guy whose entire tag line is about how he can literally shove your head up your-"

" _Stark!_ " Steve barked out, cutting Tony off.

"If the shred-o-matic goes, I'm goin' too," Tony asserted.

"Logan isn't going," Charles replied. "And neither are you, I'm afraid."

When both of them started to argue, Jean closed her eyes, reached one hand out toward them and sent the suggestion to "sleep" directly to both of them, and to Steve's amusement, both Logan and Tony simply crumpled to the carpet, completely out.

"Oh. Now  _that's_ a fun party trick!" Jan giggled before she waved them off. "Don't worry about them! Go on! Shoo!" She was nearly pushing Steve out. "I'm serious. I'll keep them comfortable. The kids will help!"

"Right. Kids," Clint said, smirking. "Nat. I kinda want to put them together."

"No," Natasha said with a dry look.

"Just for some pictures!"

" _No_."

Clint let his shoulders drop as he headed off with her. "Fine. Next time I'm getting polaroids though."

* * *

When Magneto and his group got to Avalon, the two prisoners were tossed into a cell together, though once the doors were locked, the bars around Scott were suddenly opened to free him. They hadn't moved for K, though, so after Scott shook some feeling back into his limbs, he made his way over to where K was and silently started up a fine beam to cut her out.

"Thanks, I guess," she said once he'd finished up. "Not like we're going anywhere though."

"You never know," Scott said with almost a smirk. "I told you - my team's coming."

She gave him a dry look. "You're not cute."

"Good; you're not my type," Scott said without missing a beat as he looked around the room.

"Don't flatter yourself, it wasn't anywhere close to an offer." She made her way across the cell to curl up in the corner and hug her legs.

"You alright?" Scott had to ask.

"Oh sure. Just waiting for the next wave. Thanks for asking. You?"

"Just wondering if the walls are blast-proof and if any of them lead to the vacuum of space," Scott said.

"If history is any indicator, two are outer walls," K said.

"Great." Scott frowned at the walls and then shook his head. "Floors and ceiling?" he asked after a long moment.

"Do you have a burning desire to get sucked into space?"

"I'm just exploring options," he said.

"Can you fly in space  _without_ a craft? Because … the short story is that there are no options."

"I can fly anything you put in front of me, and we just came here in one, so no, I don't believe that either," Scott said.

She let out a weary sigh. "Can I ask you something and get a straight answer?"

"Sure."

" _What were you thinking_?"

Scott paused and turned to face her. "You're going to have to be more specific."

"Why didn't you run when you had the chance? You didn't need to get caught. That was just … pointless."

Scott let out a breath and sat down with his back against the opposite wall. "Because I don't believe anyone should be forced to follow anyone else."

"In case you didn't catch it … I haven't exactly been a very good follower."

"Yeah, I noticed," Scott said with almost a smirk. "But I also heard you when you said he was going to kill you anyway."

"Yeah, that's not going to change. It's okay."

"It's wrong, and I'm not going to stand by for it," Scott said simply. "That's all there is to it."

"No. you'll be all wrapped up in metal instead," she said, shaking her head. "Front row seats instead of hearing about it later. Nice."

Scott shrugged lightly. "Sometimes you lose, but I'd have lost  _everything_  if I didn't try."

"Now you  _are_ talking crap, Summers."

Scott shook his head and then leaned his head back against the wall. "I'm not sorry."

She was quiet for a long moment, not really wanting to argue with him before the inevitable happened with a muted  _bamf_  as the room half-filled with red and black smoke. "I honestly expected you earlier," K said without looking up at him.

"The timing had to be right, of course," Vrykolakas said with a growing grin. "In case you were wondering, the window to choose is now closed …  _now_ is the time to  _deal_ , my dear." He stopped and turned toward Scott. "Unless of course, you'd prefer to discuss terms when the boy is otherwise occupied."

"Let me take a wild guess - you don't want to go by the terms I set forward to start with, right?" K said, which of course was only answered by a wider smile.

"What are you talking about?" Scott asked with a frown, looking between the two of them.

"It's none of your concern," Vrykolakas replied. "If you want to make a deal of your own, that would have to come after I've sealed this arrangement. Wait your turn."

"What do you want?" K asked in a sigh.

"My discussed price for saving your life. Simple enough."

But K slowly shook her head. "Original terms. I'll get out on my own."

He shook his head at that. "Knowing full well that I would protect you until I was paid. No."

"Then get us  _both_ out," K said.

"If you want to barter for the boy, that would be a separate arrangement."

K glanced over at Scott, chewing her lip and clearly considering it - which only had Vrykolakas' tail swaying.

"Whatever is going on here," Scott said, shaking his head, "you don't have to - the X-Men will get us out of it."

"Ah, yes, Mr. Summers, I've heard only good things. Most interesting was the fact of your innocence … while trying to carry the blame for our mutual lovely friend. I have a special place of affection for scapegoats, you know. Particularly those that have tried to be the sacrifice themselves rather than being thrown into it by others. But then … we haven't been properly introduced," Vrykolakas said before he tipped his head Scott's way. "Sir Vrykolakas."

"That's not your name," K said in a stern tone, shaking her head slowly. "If I'm going to make a deal with you, I'm not going to let you lie to him - and I'm not going to let you answer to that ridiculous moniker, Azazel."

The demon turned her way, looking honestly delighted that she'd managed it on her own. "Always so clever," he said with a broad grin. "Another of your more tempting attributes."

"Wait. That's not - tell me that's a Brotherhood moniker," Scott breathed out, starting to see what, exactly, the story was.

"It's not," K said. "He's the real deal. A fallen angel - as much as he hates to hear it."

"I prefer when it's noted that I made my own path. Demon king seems far more fitting," Azazel said as he made his way over to K, still wearing a perfectly pleased grin. "Of course, our arrangement  _will_ be more binding with our real names, my  _lovely_ Lilja."

K did not look surprised at all and dipped her chin to her chest in acknowledgement.

"You do  _not_ have to make a deal - not for me or - the X-Men are on their way; I already told you that," Scott said, his eyebrows somehow getting higher with every word.

"Bargaining chips don't get opinions, Mr. Summers," Azazel told him shortly.

"Right, but you say that now, after I've pointed out that your deal is  _pointless_ when my team is coming," Scott shot back.

"What do you want for his safety?" K said, completely ignoring Scott's protests. "Out of curiosity."

"Just a bit of your blood," Azazel replied. "To do with as I wish."

"If you want that, you'll need to adhere to the original agreement where Magneto comes in for the first deal."

"Ah, yes, I should have expected you'd want a way to preserve the lives of those on this ridiculous little prison."

"K, I'm telling you - it doesn't matter," Scott broke in, more heated this time.

Azazel waved a hand Scott's way, silencing him entirely. "The boy is optimistic to a fault. And his opinion has no bearing on our dealings." He tipped K's chin up with one finger so she was looking him squarely in the eyes. "Really, my dear. We have a bit of time, I suppose. I know you're just as set as I to make the best deal possible, but I don't believe you've thought this through properly."

"I don't know how to go forward if the original deal isn't in effect," K admitted as Scott tried to say something -  _anything_ while the two of them continued to talk. But even screaming at her - not a sound came out, and with a little glare Scott's way, Azazel put his arm around K's shoulders and turned her so her back was to Scott.

"I think you'll see it my way soon enough," Azazel said. "Take a moment to think it over. Our negotiations have been the best I've seen in longer than I care to admit, I  _almost_ hate to see them come to a close.  _Almost."_  He let his hand slide down her spine to rest at the hollow of her back. "I'll return when he's elsewhere to discuss the fine points."

K looked between the two of them and nodded her head once before Azazel disappeared, again leaving the two of them alone. "I don't know if your team will get here quick enough," K told Scott. "And you're not the only one I'm concerned about."

"You don't know Jean," he said quietly, testing his voice and almost looking surprised when he was able to speak again. "She'll get here."

"Doesn't mean that you and your team won't be in more danger by my being around you." K gave him a little smile. "And I know there's still plenty to answer for. I don't have anything to work with and the only thing waiting is a cell. I've spent too much time captive for one group or another. I  _can't_ keep living like that."

Scott shook his head at that. "Give us a little credit, K. We don't come after people for the crime of having the wrong rescuers."

"You're not the only ones I have to deal with."

"Yeah, we've got experience with that too," Scott said. "Or did you forget we're technically still 'terrorists' according to the government?"

"Not a great argument, Scott," K said. "And I'm just …  _tired_." Her whole body seemed to slump with the admission and her weariness was plainly apparent.

"And I'm tired of letting you get caught in the crossfire. That's part of why I want to bring you back," Scott pointed out. "Half or better of those kids would love to see you again, and even though you are considered a part of Magneto's …. Nonsense." He shook his head. "Even with that, I'm not going to keep you away from those kids."

"They're better off where they are with who they've got now." K had made her way over to the wall opposite the door and slid down to once again hug her knees.

"I was fine with that until one of them called you 'Mom'," Scott said.

"She'll forget soon enough. It was a high-trauma moment."

"I never did," Scott said sharply.

"She's a lot younger than you were," she said. "And she's got good people around her."

"Doesn't make it any less real," Scott said. "It's worse the second time - losing parents and then thinking you have them again and then going back to being alone. But what do I know?"

She looked up at him with a perfectly open expression. "I know, Scott. But … put yourself in my shoes, too. Just for two seconds. There is no ending here where I'm not a prisoner. So I might as well do as much good as I can and try to ensure that the people on this  _Titanic_  disaster make it out alive."

"Your shoes include demon deals, K," Scott pointed out dryly.

"Haven't hammered one out yet," she said. "He's been trying since the day I met him." She scoffed. "I knew him all of two minutes and he was trying to ... " She bit her lip and shook her head. "He's wanted a deal for a long time."

"Then you know how to make the best of the situation," Scott pointed out. "I'm telling you - the X-Men are on the way, and Katie will probably never leave you alone for two seconds once you're there."

"He followed me here to try and make a deal. He has no interest in Magneto or his cause. At all." She had shifted to almost staring at a spot in the corner. "Azazel is Kurt's dad. I'm sure you guessed - they really do look alike- but … you should  _know_ that."

Scott paused, then nodded. "Doesn't change a thing with Kurt. He's still attached to Wolverine and I doubt that's stopping anytime soon."

"No, I just … I thought you should know. I didn't know who he was when I brought Kurt to you. And I think sooner or later Azazel will be looking for him."

"Then we'll stop him," Scott said. "Simple as that."

"How exactly do you think you'll stop a teleporting, shapeshifting, telepathic, healing  _demon_  with God only knows what other powers he's got up his sleeve?"

"Well, we already have half of those powers on our side, and the other half we have better people," Scott said.

"That's not all he does. There's magic too," she pointed out. "I don't know what the blood is for, but I know Wanda said to be careful." She winced. "That's bad, I'm sure."

"Then it's a good thing I don't need you to deal for me. And the rest we'll figure it out," Scott said. "It'll help if you can tell us as much as you can when we get back, and we'll work up a game plan."

"Scott … it's not going to work like that."

"Of course it is. I tried to explain what the X-Men are about before but you didn't listen then - not surprised now that you can't swallow it."

"Just hard to believe," she said. "I'm sure you've heard that before."

"All the time," Scott said. He paused and smirked. "Kind of makes it worth it, though. Knowing it's right anyway."

She frowned for a moment and watched him. "Yeah … sounds like you grew up on Captain America stories."

Scott's lips twitched for a second and he shook his head. "Along with everyone my age."

She shook her head. "No … everyone your age wasn't reading those. That's a little before your time. Not that I'm surprised that you'd go to something more sturdy than what the other kids were into."

Scott smirked again. "Grew up military. My mom loved those stories," he said with a shrug.

"Ah, that makes much more sense," she said, nodding.

"What about you?" Scott asked, gesturing with one hand.

"Oh, I was grown when he came up as a 'thing'."

Scott raised both eyebrows her way. "So you were there for the newsreels as they happened?"

"Yeah, most of them," she said with a nod. "They played them all the time - that was how a lot of people got their news was to go to the movies."

"But you didn't believe in all that?" Scott asked, his head tipped to the side.

"Oh, everyone believed in it - or at least supported it. But a lot of it was propaganda to raise support and money for the war."

"You know we've got the real deal, right?" Scott said. "Not propaganda."

"Yeah, I know," she said with a nod. "That intel pointing to where they were may have disappeared once or twice."

"Thanks for that," Scott said. He leaned his head back again. "They  _are_ coming, you know."

"Relentless," she accused.

"Only when I'm right."

"Then for your sake, I hope they  _are_ coming," K said. "Emma is one thing. But if Azazel decides to start poking ... " she shook her head. "I didn't even know he was in my head to start with."

"I thought you had natural defenses."

"I do," she said. "Apparently it doesn't apply to demons. Particularly ones with the rep for having been God's most clever angel before he was cast out. He's known what I've been up to for a long time. Not just the kids. The redirect of information. Even when I hadn't said a word to anyone."

Scott let out a long breath and finally let some of his worry show. "Yeah, well… they'll be here," he said.

"He won't tell Magneto anything," K said. "Erik irritates him - says he's a fool pretending to have real power…"

"That's only a mild relief, you know," he said.

"Take what you can get," she suggested. The two of them were quiet for a long while, though when the door finally opened, it was both Azazel and Emma. And both of them were looking a lot more self satisfied than K wanted to see.

Especially when, as soon as the door opened, Scott positively lit up and got to his feet. "What took you so long?" he asked, grinning wider as he crossed the span to positively wrap Emma in a kiss that was far gentler than anything K knew Emma would usually go for.

K couldn't stop the growl as she got up fast, too. "I'm going to skin you, you evil, worthless little tramp," K snarled out.

Emma simply smirked K's way.  _You won't be alive long enough to try_ , she projected K's way, rearranging herself with Scott, who was frustratingly grinning K's way with an 'I told you so' sort of look.

K looked openly shocked for a moment as she looked between Emma and Azazel and frowned as Emma led Scott off and the door closed. "I was going to deal with you anyhow," she said, frustrated and on the verge of hyperventilating. "That was  _completely_ unnecessary."

"I disagree," he replied smoothly. "Now. The terms while we have privacy."

K let out a breath, trying to get herself back under control. "I need for Erik to be unable to manipulate my metal," she said in a purely businesslike tone that he hadn't really heard since their first attempt at real negotiations. "That will remain true regardless of anything else. That's a standard that has to be there, or like it or not, I  _can't_. Do. Anything. Getting out and to safety will be a relative thing otherwise."

He tipped his chin up for a moment, but it was clear that she was absolutely right, and Azazel took a moment longer before he let out a breath and nodded once.

"However," she said. "I know that there will be no way for you to  _prove_ that to me, so -  _you_ have to get me to safety." She tipped her head toward the door. "Particularly with the X-Men dead set on 'rescuing' me. If you don't get me out, we'll have a problem of burden of proof."

His lip curled slightly, and his jaw set as 'fine' slipped past, though by the way his tail was switching, he was unhappy with not getting more ground on the main matter at hand. "And for your  _boys_ ," he said. "I'll require a vial of blood - freely given."

"Same conditions for Billy, Tommy,  _and Scott_. You'll be paid after they are on safe ground, whole and unharmed," K said, nodding already, but that had him smiling.

"Of course."

K watched him for a long moment, sure that she was missing something by the way he was smiling, but with the stress and the way her head was feeling, she just couldn't  _think_ through it. There was a long moment where she simply held his gaze as he looked more and more self satisfied and then with a sigh, she let her shoulders drop as she nodded in agreement. "Then you have a deal."

He smiled at her and held his hand out. She hesitated for just an instant, but as soon as she took his hand to shake it, she felt a brief spark of some kind of magic, only long enough to strengthen the handshake for an instant before it was over.

"I will see you again shortly my pet," he said, smiling wider before he simply disappeared in the familiar cloud of red leaving K frowning at the mark on her wrist that looked as if it was burned into her skin. And it wasn't going away either.

* * *

Scott had been surprised at how… amorous Jean was once they were out of the cell on Avalon. Not that he was complaining - at all - but… "Jean, we still have work to do," he said, though he wasn't going to fight her on how neatly she was pressed into him.

"We have time," Jean argued, her arms hooked around his neck. "Besides, the professor went to talk to Magneto."

"Now that's a conversation I'd like to hear," Scott said, shaking his head.

Jean nodded her agreement. "I'm sure they'll be in there for a while."

"We should be backing him up," Scott pointed out. "I don't think Magneto is just going to hand K over to us, and she  _can't_ stay here. He'll kill her."

Jean frowned for a moment as she traced his shoulders. "I don't know, Scott…"

"Jean." Scott ducked his head to meet her gaze. "You know we can't leave things the way they are. What about Katie?"

Jean bit her lip as she met his gaze. "I know," she said at last. "But can't we just take a minute - you  _were_ kidnapped to space, you know. I was worried."

"I knew you were coming for me," Scott said with a little smirk. He looked over her shoulder to where, in his perception, Logan had stayed behind to watch K and make sure she didn't try anything until they could get back to Westchester.

Jean shook her head at him and tapped him in the center of the chest to get his attention. "We're just waiting for the chess game to work its way out. In the meantime…."

Scott couldn't help but smile as he ducked his head to kiss her. "You were really that worried?"

"I really was," Jean said, then slipped closer to pull him into a much longer kiss that she didn't seem ready to break anytime soon.

And really, Scott wasn't complaining - not when they had been so slammed lately that it was hard to get a few moments of privacy. He was surprised, yes, but he wasn't going to say no, either -

-at least, not until Jean's hand drifted down to his belt and he stopped. She pushed to continue the kiss, seemingly unbothered by Scott's surprise, but he pulled back slightly, one hand on her shoulder and the other wrapped around her wrist to stop her from going any lower. She still looked like Jean, but…

"What's wrong?" Jean asked with a silky smile.

Scott narrowed his eyes. "It's not going to work, Emma."

Jean frowned, her lower lip pushed slightly out, but even as she tried to maintain the illusion, that shattered a moment later. One moment, she was still Jean, and the next, Scott was glaring down at Emma Frost, who looked frustrated when she realized that the illusion was gone.

"Oh, don't get so uptight," Emma said with a huff. "You were  _enjoying_ yourself."

Scott shook his head. "It's not going to work. And it looks to me like your partner isn't helping you anymore, so-" He shrugged her hand off his shoulder, pushed her hand away and brushed past her, headed down the way they'd come and fully intending to bust K out - ignoring Emma entirely except for the red tinge he was still wearing on his cheeks for how mad he was.

"Fine," Emma snapped his way. "Then you can say goodbye to your friend. All I have to do is open the hatch, and not even her healing will save her from the vacuum of space." To emphasize the threat, she had one hand on the hatch itself.

Scott froze and turned her way with his eyes narrowed behind his visor. "What do you want?"

"I should think that was obvious," Emma said, giving him an open once over.

Scott crossed his arms. "I already said no."

Emma frowned at him before she let out a little huff and waved her hand. "I don't take no for an answer, Scott, darling. But maybe you just need a little time to think it over. Come to your senses…"

Scott shook his head. "No. I already have the love of my life; I don't need to think over anything that would leave me with less than that."

"Oh, how would you know when she's the only one you've played with?"

"Because I haven't wanted to  _look_ elsewhere," he said simply.

"Ridiculous notion," she said, waving him off. "I think some time back in the cell would do you some good. Then you can watch your little traitor friend when Magneto deals with her."

"The X-Men will get here before that."

"Darling, I doubt they even know you're gone," Emma replied.

Scott didn't say anything, since he wasn't about to give away that Charles Xavier had already let him know they were coming. Instead, he turned on his heel and stalked toward the cell - though with Emma's threat to eject K into space, jailbreak was  _temporarily_ pushed to the side.

When he stepped in, K was folded in on herself sitting in the corner, and that only reminded him that he knew Vrykolakas had stopped helping Emma…

"You made the deal, didn't you," Scott said, not bothering to keep the anger out of his tone - especially since he was still upset at what Emma had tried to pull.

"It wasn't just for your benefit," K said.

"I'm not self-absorbed enough to think that," Scott said.

"Good," she said. "And how far did the White Tramp get before he quit boosting her?"

Scott glared for a moment, a muscle working in his jaw. "Not as far as she wanted," he bit out.

"Even better," K said then rested her chin on her crossed arms.

"You made a deal with a  _demon_ ," Scott said heatedly.

"Relax," K said before she let out a sigh. "Not like he wanted my  _soul_ or anything."

"What did he want, then?" Scott asked.

K paused and somehow shrunk in on herself further. "It doesn't matter. Don't worry about it."

Scott shook his head. "Of course I'm worried about it. What does a demon get out of a deal with you? Information - or are you simply shifting your alliance?"

She shook her head almost impatiently. "No. He doesn't need intel, if he did he could get it easier than I could, and I'm  _not_ backing him." She looked up at him for a moment. "I wasn't lying when I said I just wanted to go home."

"Then what…" Scott let out a breath and shook his head, sitting down across from her. "I told you - the X-Men are coming. That wasn't necessary."

"It is if anything happens to Magneto," K said. "I was trying to avoid letting Avalon fall apart with everyone living here."

"X-Men don't kill, K."

"Who said it was going to be the X-Men that did it?" K asked. "Even his own kids want him dead."

Scott shook his head at that. "His whole organization is built on force. It's going to topple sooner or later," he muttered.

"Yes. And there are  _kids_ here," K said.

Scott let out a slow breath. "Alright," he said at last. "So what is your plan, exactly?"

"See if Azazel can pull off what he thinks he can," she said. "If the deal was just for me, and didn't pay any heed to Magneto breathing, I'm sure he'd have me on his island by now. But … all we can do is wait and see what he can do. Take it from there." She shrugged. "If your team gets here first - and gets us out before he can, then he's defaulted on the deal. I'm not a total idiot. He's the back up plan. Not the main plan."

"All the more reason to bank on my team."

"Either way … back up plan in place," K muttered.

Scott nodded but didn't say anything further. If he was honest, he was too frustrated to form the words. He didn't like a demon getting involved, and he didn't like the desperation he was seeing on Magneto's side of things.

The X-Men couldn't get here soon enough.


	37. Judge, Jury, And Executioner

Even with Jean putting the loudest arguing to sleep, it had still been hard to get the team weeded out to head up to Avalon for Scott. The truth was, Charles had too many volunteers that wanted to go raid Magneto's place - all of them for good reason, but he had to draw the line.

There were other things to consider than simply who wanted to avenge friends or who was out to make a statement … or the rather impressive number of his team that had been present for a hand off of one kid or another. After Logan had been particularly troublesome about hearing 'no', Natasha was quick to volunteer to hang back and keep an eye on her 'little uncle', and Charles knew that as soon as Logan woke up, the bulk of the smaller kids would be clamoring for his attention. Which meant that Logan would have his hands full. It was trying. But somehow, Charles managed to keep this team small.

If nothing else, in the event that they ended up returning with more than they were anticipating, then there would be room on the blackbird to accommodate them.

As it was, Charles had taken Jean with him, as well as Henry, Steve, and Pietro - who had insisted on coming to be sure his sister was safe too - and that was the extent of it. They were ready for a fight, and he was sure that Erik was more than prepared to make life miserable for them given half a chance. But still … the group of them were determined to get Scott back at the very least. Jean was ready to go get him all on her own if need be.

But they weren't expecting a  _friendly_ reception when they reached the docking point. Erik's followers had made a point to be downright welcoming of the three X-Men (though Pietro had hung back and slipped out to go find Wanda) and were glad to guide them to where Erik was waiting for them. They were even halfway cordial to Steve.

When they arrived, Erik was reclined on a metal throne. On one side, Scott was partly wrapped up - but it was a much neater job than before. And on the other side, K was simply floating with her arms at her sides, looking entirely resigned.

 _Hi, Jean,_ Scott projected toward her.  _Knew you were coming._

 _Don't you 'hi, Jean' me,_ she shot right back.  _I can't believe we had to come all the way to Avalon. What were you thinking?_

 _To be honest, I'd hoped you'd be right behind me,_ Scott replied, sounding tired even in his mental voice.

 _We weren't that late, were we?_ Jean asked.  _What happened?_

Scott frowned at her for a moment before he shook his head.  _It's just been a long night._

Jean narrowed her eyes on hearing that.  _You're going to … can you just … I need to know now. Was your cellmate that horrible in close contact?_

Scott shook his head.  _No, but we do need to get her out before a literal demon deal gets_ more  _involved._ He met her gaze.  _Like I said. Long night._

She gave him a little look for that and then glanced around the room at the other players in attendance. Though when she saw the smug sort of gloating look on Emma's face, she narrowed her eyes and touched Emma's mind, only to back off with fire dancing in her eyes when she got the gist of what Emma had tried to pull.  _I'm going to kill her._

_Jean…_

_Don't even start_ , Jean projected back to him.  _If the shoe was on the other foot, would you be calm?_

_Well, no-_

_Then no. I will not be calm._  The fire started to flicker around the edges of Jean's hair, and though she didn't realize it, she'd started to float a few inches off of the ground, which was earning her a concerned sort of look from Steve.

"So," Erik said looking overly smug. "Have you come to stay or is this some poorly thought out 'rescue' attempt?" He gestured to Scott. "Because you're not taking him back."

"I came to give you one last chance to  _listen to reason_ ," Charles said evenly, though in a powerful tone that he so rarely used.

"And what is your angle this time, Charles?" Erik challenged. "The boy tried to aid the escape of a traitor."

"I'm trying to give you a chance  _not_ to become everything you hate," Charles said, his eyes narrowed. "Before it consumes you."

"You don't know what you're saying," Erik sniffed. "Leave now so we can hold our trial in peace. You've said over and over you want no part of this - don't start now."

"Let them go, Erik," Charles said. "I won't stand idly by while you play judge, jury, and executioner. I'm not  _asking_ , old friend."

Erik drew himself up, glaring right back at Charles. "No."

At the expression on Charles' face, and the fire that was starting to build around Jean, Emma paused and quickly shifted over to diamond form, paranoid that one of them would force their way into her mind. Which was really like  _asking_ for it from Jean. Particularly since Erik and Charles had only been talking up to that point.

Jean narrowed her eyes and tipped her head slightly before she forced Emma out of her diamond phase and dove in to see  _exactly_  what had transpired, and the extent of Emma's manipulations. As she'd expected, everything she saw only had Jean more and more angry.

By that time, the flames had grown - though not hot enough or large enough to show the full Phoenix - not that she needed it. The cry of a bird echoed the chamber just before the flames seemed to direct themselves at Emma - and in very short order, the White Queen was reduced to nothing more than a wisp of ash.

Erik narrowed his eyes at that and let out a sound of frustration and anger. "You come here to preach morality to  _me_?" he snapped, gesturing toward where the White Queen had stood only moments before. "You have no moral high ground when one of your own  _students_ steps in to play the part you accuse me of claiming as my own."

"She tried to seduce him with telepathy," K said. "She more than earned it."

"I wasn't aware seduction warranted a death sentence in your estimation of the world," Erik said with narrowed eyes.

"If Emma tried to make me sleep with her, I'd absolutely want her dead," K shot back. "There are some things I wouldn't even trust to my healing."

"She used  _my face_ ," Jean said, still furious and with her hands clenched.

"What she did was tantamount to  _rape,_ " K snarled Erik's way. "You can't possibly advocate that - even if it was against a young man. And correct me if I'm wrong, but you  _were_ the one that was preaching not to use your mutant ability on other mutants, weren't you? Fancy that," K added dryly. "Your White Witch started the trend for her own gains. And you? Leading by example, I see."

Erik glared her way for an instant before it turned into a sneer. "There are exceptions to every rule," he said as he turned on her and lifted her higher so that she was eye level with him. "Broken trust, for example. Betrayal.  _Treason_. But perhaps our young friend has the right idea about how to deal with that." The moment he said it, he extended the fingers on his hand nearest K - and with a pained gasp, she looked more like she was being pulled apart than just floating. Erik's lip twitched as he narrowed his eyes, concentrating hard as K started to scream.

But that was one step too far for Charles. He didn't even need to project to Jean before she had removed Erik's helmet, and in a second, Charles dove into Erik's mind with nearly clinical precision, simply shutting him down before he could even realize where the attack was coming from.

All at once, K fell to the ground, and so did Erik, and Charles shook his head at the prone form of his old friend. "I gave you every chance," he said quietly, though Charles himself didn't look to be doing terribly well either. Jean looked alarmed as Charles covered his nose with the back of his hand - but not quickly enough to hide the fact that Charles had managed to strain himself to the point of a nosebleed - something that none of his X-Men had seen before.

There was a long and pregnant silence before finally Hank and Steve stepped forward to look K over. "I suggest we expedite our exit," Hank said as Steve picked her up. His estimation was accented by a great lurch as Avalon was quickly losing the forces that held it together.

Scott looked down at the metal still holding him and then up at Hank as he made his way toward Scott. "Who'd you bring?"

"I'm afraid you're looking at your stalwart rescuers," Hank said. "Was there someone special you were hoping would come to bail you out?"

Scott shot him a dry look. "Fine. If someone wants to refocus my visor, I can cut it myself."

"Nonsense," Hank said with a chuckle as he waved Steve over to carry the unconscious little woman closer to Scott. "We can deal with that without having you shoot through the hull, if you don't mind." He carefully aligned K's hand and arm then pressed a spot on her forearm not far from her elbow to extract one claw, then he bent her wrist to keep it from slipping back. "Try not to sneeze."

Scott simply held perfectly still as Hank carefully guided K's claw to cut him loose. He shot Hank a little smile as he shook out his arms not more than a moment before Jean got there to hit him in the arm and then kiss him hard.

"Oh good; so you're not mad at me?" Scott couldn't help but tease her when the kiss broke.

"Are you kidding me?" she said, staring at him open mouthed. "How in the world am I supposed to follow through on my plans if you keep doing stupid things like this?"

"Like…" Scott frowned slightly, but when Jean caught where his thoughts were, she shook her head.

"Not the White Witch. That - no. Stupid things like getting yourself  _captured_ ," she said, hitting him in the arm again for good measure.

"I'm pretty sure this was a one-time thing," Scott said with a small smile as he pulled her a bit closer.

"Well, you better hope so," she said, still blushing high on her cheeks as she relaxed into him. "I don't think I can handle being married to you if you're going to keep playing damsel in distress."

Scott stared at her, open-mouthed. "Wait. What?"

But that seemed to get her to blush a shade or three deeper as she scanned his thoughts and realized what, exactly it was that had him hung up. Jean tipped her chin up defiantly. "You heard me."

Scott couldn't stop himself as he started to grin at her. "I… yeah. I mean - when? Let me at least get you a ring," he said, starting slow and finally starting to pick up speed. "Unless you wanted to do that too."

Jean stammered for a moment, trying to catch up to herself. "I just meant … I mean -  _no rush_ , Scott. That's ... "

Scott's grin only seemed to get wider before he pulled Jean into a long and lingering kiss. When it broke he just seemed to be grinning even wider, somehow. "Jean Elaine Gray, will you marry me?"

"Of  _course_ ," she replied almost in a tone of shock.

"As incredibly romantic as I'm sure Avalon is for such a moment, I do believe that the time has come for us to expedite our departure," Hank said as their footing heaved. " _Today_ , people."

Scott and Jean both looked his way for a moment and flushed red before Scott nodded. "Right."

As they headed for where their ship was docked, it was hard to miss the green-haired Lorna hovering a few feet off the ground in the central chamber of Avalon, arms outstretched and eyes closed tight in concentration as she tried to keep it together and the alarms sounded for evacuation.

Wanda and Vision were being ushered forward by Pietro, who took one look at the group of X-Men and changed direction to send his sister and brother in law toward them. "I can get Lorna out at the last second if you can take my sister and her family," he offered.

"Of course," Charles said, waving Wanda forward.

It wasn't exactly a hard sell either. Especially when Billy and Tommy squirmed to get closer to K - and Tommy flat out kicked Steve in the shin. "Let her  _go!_ " he shouted before he hauled off and kicked him twice more for good measure before Vision picked him up.

"Woah, hey!" Steve said, shifting back instinctively as he raised K up a bit higher. "Take it easy, tough guy.

"He didn't hurt her," Jean promised, doing her best to switch from flustered to calming. "We're trying to get her to safety so we can take care of her."

Tommy crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her, clearly not believing a word of it. "She doesn't  _neeeeed_ taknin' care of."

"Are you sure?" Steve asked. "Would you like to help us take care of her?"

He stopped and tipped his chin up, clearly working it over in his head before he glanced over at Billy and the two of them managed to get loose from their parents and rocket over to her.

"As soon as we get away from the space station, we'll be able to sit down so you can hold her hand," Hank promised as gently as was possible when they were rushing to get out.

"Everyone has a designated means out," Wanda informed them. "They just need the time to get there, and Lorna … I think Lorna has it covered. She was pretty insistent."

"I would have given you ample warning had I had any other choice," Charles said, though it looked like the frown was never going to let up.

Wanda rested her hand on his shoulder. "He was losing touch with reality, Charles. We're lucky he didn't tear the station apart on his own."

Charles didn't say anything in response, still in his own thoughts on the matter, and for the moment, the little group simply focused on getting to the blackbird - where Hank and Steve quickly made sure to arrange K so that Hank could give her a preliminary exam while also allowing the two youngest members of the group to stay with her.

"How come she sleepy?" Billy asked, peering at K intently. "Wake up, K! No sleepnin."

"She's healing," Hank said as he listened to her heart - the simplest answer he could come up with that was even halfway true.

Tommy climbed up beside K, frowning at her. "O-kaaay," he said after a moment.

"Did she getted hurt on her hand?" Billy asked, frowning at something there as he held onto K's hand with both of his. "Oush."

Hank looked over the top of his glasses, frowning even before he got a good look at the mark on her wrist, and then frowning deeper the longer he looked at it. "Scott? What do you know? This didn't happen where we saw her." Then he looked at Jean to project out  _There is no reason for any injury to be this raw looking on her. Even with the unseen damage Magneto did_.

Scott frowned even harder and then looked toward Wanda. "She made a deal with that demon of yours," he said.

Wanda held up both hands. "He wasn't ours. It was pretty clear from day one that he really didn't care much about father's cause," she said. "He came looking for  _her_. Father kept him around because he was powerful. He thought that Vrykolakas was a mutant."

"Well, he got what he wanted," Scott said with a glare. "Though I don't know if  _Azazel_ will get to close the deal, since the X-Men got her out first."

Wanda's eyebrows went up high at that. "I thought … I knew the name he gave us was fake … but … are you  _sure_ that's the right name?" When Scott nodded, Wanda's shoulders dropped as she looked over K. "Oh, what did you get yourself into …"

"She said he didn't ask for her soul," Scott said.

"No, he wouldn't," Wanda said, shaking her head. "Not directly anyway. He … if he's  _the_ Azazel … we need to bring in Doctor Strange. This is out of my expertise."

"She don' need a doctor, Mom," Tommy said, scrunching up his nose. "Thas silly."

"She needs this one, sweetheart," Wanda said.

"Nu-uh," Billy argued. "No doctors!"

"Honey, Doctor Strange is a doctor for your spirit. Not your body," Wanda said.

"Oooooh." Billy nodded. "Thas different."

"Weird," Tommy said, scrunching up his nose.

"Strange, even," Scott said straight faced from where he was sitting with Jean, in too good a mood with her fingers intertwined with his not to run with it.

Wanda bit her lip and looked toward Scott. "Do you know … did she tell you what he had to do to collect?"

He shook his head and turned his attention back to Wanda. "She only said it wasn't her soul," he admitted. "She wouldn't tell me anything else." He paused. "And I'm pretty sure it was a two-fold deal," he added, looking a bit more frustrated at the memory.

Wanda looked toward Jean and Charles. "This … this is one of those times where permission isn't … we  _need_ to know so the Sorcerer Supreme can be prepared."

The two telepaths shared a look, though for as high as the emotions were running thus far, it wasn't long before they both nodded and put their heads together, so to speak, diving into K's mind to get the answers they needed.

And, of course, when they did emerge - only a few minutes out from Westchester - Jean was furious at what she saw, fire at the edges of her gaze. "I'm going to kill him too," she breathed out.

"Your face is on fire," Billy sang out.

"It does that," Scott said with a smirk.

Jean rolled her eyes at Scott but switched to a telepathic message to the adults so that the kids wouldn't hear the content of what they had seen - the details of  _both_ deals and what was at stake.

Wanda was well beyond upset on hearing what had transpired. Not only for the deal itself, but for the fact that her friend had felt so cornered that  _this_ was the way out of it. "She gave up," Wanda said.

"He was going to kill her," Charles said, his eyes narrowed and his irritation obvious. "That much was absolutely certain."

"She was really more concerned about the kids, though," Scott put in. "I did get that out of her - she wouldn't deal unless Avalon and especially the twins would be safe."

Jean glanced his way but didn't correct him on it. "I don't know how this works," she said. "It's clear he didn't manage the first part of the deal, though."

"Some of it must be still valid. If it was completely null, the mark on her wrist should be gone," Wanda said. "And I know he put in too much time for this deal to just walk away if he had even a sliver of a chance to collect."

"We can ask Doctor Strange about that much," Scott pointed out.

"He's a biblical demon, Scott," Wanda said. "Even if he shouldn't be able to collect, he'll try to collect."

"I got that much, actually," Scott said. "I just meant we should ask Strange how to combat it - and how to fight a demon."

"I already have a method in mind," Jean said with her eyes narrowed.

"I'm not sure how Phoenix fire measures up to Hellfire," Hank couldn't help but say.

"Jean will win every time," Scott said. "It's that simple."

"You're biased, Mr. Summers … or should I say Mr. Grey?" Hank teased.

Scott smirked. "Not how it works, Hank."

"Just be happy Bobby isn't here," Hank laughed, though he took a moment to offer both boys a Twinkie. "For being such wonderful assistants."

"We're not s'pposed to take candy from straaaaaangers," Billy sang out - even though Tommy was already gleefully opening and devouring his.

Wanda had to smile at them both. "Hank is an Avenger," she said. "We were on the team together, weren't we?"

Hank smiled her way and nodded. "Yes, and I have missed working with your mother."

"Okay," Billy said, then looked toward Vision. "Can I have it, Daddy? A Nevenger gaved it to me!"

"Of course," Vision said with a nod. "Dr. McCoy is perfectly trustworthy."

Billy giggled at that and quickly tore into his Twinkie, though Tommy had already finished his and was tugging on Hank's arm. "I do more and get anudder?"

"When we land, we'll get you some dinner - and then dessert," Hank promised. "And if you help more, yes, you can have another. You also get one when you get a check up."

"Inna check up!" Tommy said, bouncing on his toes. "Inna check up!"

Hank chuckled. "As soon as we land and get your friend seen to, you can have a check up."

"Yay!" Tommy bounced and threw his hands up and then quickly reattached to K so that he was holding her hand again. "I like Doctor Co-y."

"Most of the kids call him Dr. Fuzzy," Steve said, which got a patient, but resigned sort of sigh out of Hank. Especially when both boys turned to Hank wide eyed and let out a "ooooooooooh" in perfect harmony.

Of course, as soon as they'd landed and gotten unloaded in Westchester, Jean stuck with K while the boys got their check up and took the time to give her a quick kiss before they were ushered upstairs to the other kids - Twinkies in hand.

As for K, once the lab was clear, Hank pulled a little blood to test and Jean got her settled into the cell that Logan had tested out and a watch was established to keep an eye on both her and the possibility of any 'visitors' while they waited for Doctor Strange to arrive.

* * *

Hank was still giving everyone from the blackbird a once over when Pietro and Lorna came in looking a little worse for wear. With Lorna, it was a matter of simple exhaustion from trying to keep Avalon from falling apart until everyone was out, and with Pietro, it was a matter of a few bits and pieces of falling-apart-Avalon when he'd gotten her out last.

Of course, the twins hadn't seen their Uncle Pietro in a long time, so there was an immediate mobbing, with one little boy on either leg before Pietro could get all the way to a seat.

"We missed you!" Billy informed Pietro

Pietro was grinning in spite of himself with a hand on either of their heads. "Missed you too, troublemakers."

Tommy grinned and shook his head. "Nuh-uh! No trouble today! We're helpin' and gettin'  _Twinkies_!"

"Oh, great - who thought it was a good idea to sugar  _you_ up?" Pietro teased as he took Tommy and tossed him in the air.

"Me too! Me too!" Billy chanted over Tommy's  _wild_ laughter, which was, of course, ringing through the entire medical area and getting smiles out of everyone. It was impossible not to get caught up in the twin's giggles.

"Boys, why don't you let Hank look at your uncle in case he needs Twinkies too?" Wanda said when it was clear the twins weren't going to let Pietro do anything  _but_ play with them.

The sounds of protest were loud - and ringing - especially with the way both of them let their entire bodies droop - and in Tommy's case, melted entirely to the floor. "Fi-i-i-ine."

"You're welcome to help me," Hank told the boys.

"Like we helped with K?" Billy said, one eye shut. "I dunno… I don't wanna just hold hands."

"Yeah, I wanna  _play_ ," Tommy agreed fervently.

"I'm sure if you want to play, we can take you up to meet the other kids," Jean suggested. "There are quite a few boys and girls that would like to show you around."

"Oooh, can we please?" Billy asked, spinning to face Wanda and almost bouncing on his toes! "I don't wanna stay here. It's  _boring_."

Wanda smirked and looked up at Steve. "We're sticking close to the X-Men, so if you stay with either group, they'll meet the kids," Steve said.

"Have fun," Wanda told them. "Just don't go outside yet, okay?"

"Okay!" the boys chorused happily, both of them rushing over to Jean - since she was the one to make the suggestion.

Of course, most of the kids were taking naps at the moment, but Teddy and Kate had flat-out  _refused_ to go to sleep because they were having too much fun playing with their race cars, so that's who the boys got to meet when Jean brought them up to the living room.

Katie beamed and waved at the newcomers happily, and Teddy made sure to push some toy cars aside for them. "You can come play too," Teddy said with a shy smile.

"Did you come with my mom too?" Katie asked cheerfully.

"We came with  _our_ mom," Tommy said, grinning widely. "You're pretty!"

Katie giggled at that. "That's what my dad says," she agreed. "You can have the green car 'cause you got a green shirt, okay?"

"Awright," Tommy said just before he nearly dove in to play with them, already making squealing car tire sounds as his green car raced around the floor. But Billy was just … standing there looking shy as he scuffed his feet against the carpet.

Teddy seemed to decide this meant he needed to take things into his own hands, and he made his way over to Billy with a handful of a few different cars. "You can pick if you want," he offered.

"Thanks," Billy said with a little smile.

"I'm Teddy," the blonde little boy said. "And that's Katie. She's new too. Her and Miles just got here."

"I'm Billy and that's Tommy," he said. "We're twins. But I'm older."

"You got different hair, though," Teddy said, his head tipped to the side.

Billy's hand shot up to the side of his head before he could answer. "Well … yeah. We're not … we're not … didendical. He has hair like our Uncle Pietro."

"Okay." Teddy shrugged. "I like yours better."

"Me too," Billy said, grinning. "But yours is kind of neat too. We don't have any yellow in our family. My Aunt has green hair though."

"I can do green!" Teddy said, his whole expression lighting up. "I … I can't do it right  _now_. I gotta be mad… but I can do it!"

"That sounds cool," Billy said as he made his way over with Teddy to where Tommy was currently crashing his car off a cliff - complete with screaming passengers. When his car 'hit' the ground, Tommy threw himself backward as he ran through his explosion sound effects and gave a stellar 'death' performance.

"Your brother is silly," Katie informed Billy.

Billy rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry. He's … like that. Mom says he gets his drama from our Grandpa."

"That's okay. I like silly," Katie said with a shrug.

On hearing it, Tommy let out a cry of triumph, popped up on his feet and kissed Katie on the cheek. "Tag! You're it! Catch me if you can!"

"You're gonna get it!" Katie shot back, rushing after him, which had Teddy glancing sidelong at Billy.

"She's… like that too."

Billy shrugged. "That's okay. They can play together then."

"Do you wanna play something else?" Teddy asked.

"My mom said we can't go outside yet," Billy said. "But we can do stuff here. At least until they come up here."

"The grown-ups play too if you ask nice," Teddy promised.

"Yeah, Dad said the 'Vengers would be nice to us," Billy said before he leaned forward. "My mom and dad useta be 'Vengers."

"Really?" Teddy grinned. "Which ones?"

"Scarlet Witch and Vision," Billy said proudly. "An' my Uncle said that Captain America told him they were  _still_ 'Vengers!"

"Well, yeah!" Teddy nodded, his eyes wide. "That's so cool! I know all the 'Vengers! I got to live with 'em for a while!"

"That's so cool!" Billy said, looking more excited as the two of them chatted. "Who's your favorite?"

Teddy scrunched up his nose. "Cap," he decided at last. "But I like Beast too, 'cause he lets me eat Twinkies."

"Yeah? I forgotted, you got to live with the X-Men, too! Lucky!"

Teddy grinned. "So where you been living?" he asked.

Billy blew his hair out of his eyes. "We been stuck on  _A-avalon_. And it was super boring most of the time, 'cept when K would come home and bring presents and play games with us."

"I like K," Teddy agreed. "She saveded me from a  _biiiig_ robot!"

"My Mom told me about her helpin' kids," Billy said before he gave Teddy a grin. " _She's_  just like that."

"Well, I'm really glad you're not on a Valon anymore," Teddy said. "Cause… cause I thinkyou'reprettytoo."

Billy turned bright red and clearly didn't know how to respond - even though he was grinning widely. So Teddy just grabbed his hand, and the two of them rushed off to play together.


	38. Welcome To Parenthood, Everyone

Doctor Strange arrived before K was awake, which meant he had enough time for Jean and Charles to fill him in on what they knew from their perusal of K's mind before he went in to examine the mark on her wrist for himself.

When he sat down, K was just starting to wake up enough that she'd gotten the "welcome back to the land of the living" speech from Hank, who tipped his head toward Strange as the Sorcerer Supreme held out his hand to K.

"I understand you made a deal with a demon," Strange said in a perfectly professional tone, getting right to business as he stood in front of K.

"Yeah, well … it wasn't for myself," K said as she started to sit upright. "I don't know who you are, though. Sorry."

Strange nodded. "Dr. Stephen Strange," he said. "Sorcerer Supreme of Earth. Which is why your friends asked me here."

"Charmed." K was still clearly a little foggy and achy from Erik working her over. "'Friends' might be a bit of an overstatement. Can you tell me - how exactly I got here?"

"The blackbird," Hank told her gently. "Magneto is dead, I'm afraid. There was no other way that we could see to stop him."

That had her sitting up a lot straighter and trying to blink back the fog. "What about … there were a lot of people there. And the boys …" She threw her legs over the edge of the bed and swayed where she sat. "Where are Billy and Tommy?"

"Upstairs meeting some of the other little ones," Hank assured her. "Lorna was able to keep Avalon together long enough for the evacuation."

At that, K let out a breath and relaxed a little more. "Okay. Good. That's good."

"Now that that's sorted out," Strange said, raising an eyebrow at K. "The mark. I'd like to see it."

She nodded at that and then frowned a little as she pulled her sleeve back to offer her right hand. Strange didn't say much, instead opting to simply examine the mark as a few sigils appeared in the air over her hand before he finally let out a breath and leaned back.

"My understanding of the terms of your agreement is that they were not fully completed," Strange said. "But the partial completion is still a problem."

"Okay," she said slowly. "What did he do to fulfil his part of the deal? Just … so I know how to argue it  _when_ he comes looking."

Strange let out a breath. "It's not the matter of Magneto's hold on you," he explained, which had K letting out a breath. "The problem lies in your second agreement: the safety of the twins and Mr. Summers. One of which was, in fact, technically rescued by Azazel's hand - or at least, he stopped aiding the White Witch."

K frowned at that and narrowed her eyes. "But … what we agreed on was that he got the three of them to the ground safe and whole," she said slowly.

"Yes, well, they are all three on the ground, safe and whole," Strange said. "I believe he'd likely argue that by ceasing in helping Frost, he helped to facilitate Mr. Summers from being damaged any further than he was." He waved a hand. "Demons."

"Breach of contract," K said in a more steady tone.

"He is a creature of Hell itself," Strange said almost flatly. "Can you honestly say you're surprised he wants to keep his claim on you?"

"No," she said. "But I'll still argue it and fight him tooth and nail."

"Good." Strange let out a breath. "Technically, the deal is not complete. He can't force you to comply by the contract alone. But he has marked you, and that has consequences." He leaned back in his seat. "I can work with Captain Rogers to make a safe haven of the hideout where the X-Men and Avengers are. I assume that's where you will be as well."

She faltered for a moment. "I … hadn't really thought about it," she admitted quietly. "I was pretty sure I was going to be dead by now."

"It would be smartest to remain with them until this is cleared up," he said. "Especially as there are more than a few here that he knows you care for."

"Wouldn't it be smarter to get  _away_ from them?" K asked.

Strange scoffed. "That's incredibly over simplistic thinking."

"Simple solutions are usually the best," K countered.

"I didn't say it was a  _solution_ ; I said it was simplistic thinking," Strange said, letting out a sigh. "You cannot be naive enough to think your absence would be a shield to a demon bent on collecting what he thinks is his. If he cannot convince you to pay him, he will  _take_ what he wants, and that, K, is a fight best fought when you know where all the players are."

At that, she nodded and let out a breath in a woosh. "Okay. Got it. Hide in the herd." She didn't look up at the group at large, already wondering where they were going to put her.

"And in the meantime, you should rest," Strange said. "I am a medical doctor as well; I doubt having your entire skeleton manipulated is something you easily shake off, and I would commend you into the care of the good Dr. McCoy."

"Not like I have a choice in it, right?"

Hank frowned at that. "My dear girl, no one stays in my labs by  _force_. Should you decide your health is best served roaming the halls, by all means, do that. I doubt you will take more than five steps before one of the many young people here tackles you outright."

"I didn't think I'd be around them," K said.

"Of course you will," Hank said. "They've been asking non-stop about when you will be awake." His eyes were twinkling as he held out his hand. "Now. Let me cover that mark for you so that none of the young eyes are subjected to a demon's mark, shall I?"

K raised an eyebrow but gave him her hand. "If you think they'd notice, sure."

"They're incredibly observant and intelligent children," Hank told her with a smile as he worked on her wrist. "Every one of them."

"They're good kids," she agreed. "Brave little things."

"Indeed," Hank said before he offered her a hand to her feet - and was immediately proven right when Strange stepped out to give the two of them a chance to chat and to get to work on his magical safeguards… and Peter and Kurt both scurried through the open door on the ceiling to be the first to say hello to K.

Which they did, of course, by dropping from the ceiling and tackling her with hugs and kisses.

"Boys!" K said as she pulled them both close and kissed their foreheads. "Have you been good?"

"Yes! Very good!" Kurt promised, wrapped around her tightly with his tail around her arm. "You finally came!"

"I'm sorry it took so long," she said, snuggling them both in. "But I got here, right?"

"Yep! Didja see me walking on the ceiling?" Peter asked, his eyes wide. "Didja?"

"I didn't even think to look up," K told him as she ruffled his hair. "Sneaky little things."

"Kurt can do it too!" Peter reported.

"Just me and Peter," Kurt said. "No one else. Not yet, at least."

"That just means no one can catch up, right?" K asked. "Even if they start, you know all the tricks by now, don't you?"

The boys grinned at each other and nodded. " _Genau!_ " Kurt giggled.

"And have you been teaching your new friends proper  _Deutsche, kleiner blauer Engel_?" K asked as she ran her hand over Kurt's curls. " _Schlauer kleiner junge._ "

" _Danke_ ," Kurt said, drawing himself up proudly. "I teach them sometimes. Peter mostly."

"Sometimes if the girls are tired after dance, we all learn together," Peter put in.

"You just need to start speaking it without them," K said with a little troublemaking smirk. "If they think you're keeping secrets they won't be able to stand it."

"Especially Katie," Peter agreed, nodding seriously.

"She doesn't like being left out, huh?" K asked.

"Nope. She's bossy," Peter said, wrinkling his nose.

"How bossy is she?" K asked, matching his expression.

Peter and Kurt glanced at each other before they started to giggle, and Kurt held out his arms as wide as he could. "Very!"

K couldn't help but laugh at the two of them and pull them back in for another hug and a kiss.

"We missed you," Kurt said, snuggling in.

"Well it seems like I'll be here for a while," she said. "So you can relax a little, I think. The lovely gentleman with the cape and the goatee said I'll be staying."

"Oh good. I like him, then," Peter said decisively.

"Is it the cape or the goatee?" K asked before she started ticking him mercilessly.

"No  _faaaaair_!" Peter said, squirming as he tried to get away.

"Kurt, help me," K said as she doubled down on tickling Peter, and the instant that Kurt was close enough to help, K switched out and snatched Kurt instead to tickle the breath out of him.

When both of the boys were tickled out and gasping, they simply attached to K in snuggled. "Are you gonna stay with Katie?" Peter asked. "Since you're her mom an' all?"

K paused at that and then looked up at Hank, who had stayed nearby. "I … don't know. Isn't she enjoying her time with all of you? I don't want to wreck her slumber parties if she's having fun."

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Hank suggested. "I'm sure Charles would appreciate the rescue. She seems to have taken over his office," he added with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Okay then," K said as she let Peter and Kurt each take one of her hands. "You boys will happily lead the way, won't you?"

"Oh yeah!" Peter promised. "We know how to get everywhere - you just stick with us, okay?"

"Will do," K agreed, though she leaned back as the boys pulled on her arms. "I'm just … so … tired …" Both boys were giggling and doing their best to keep her moving all the way up to Charles' office - with Hank smirking and following them by a few paces. The door was partway open, and Peter bounced in first.

Charles was sitting behind his desk as usual, but he absolutely couldn't get anything done even if he'd wanted to, not with Katie on his lap with a coloring book and crayons all over the desk. Which was entertaining enough for K to see how Katie had made herself at home. But the kicker was when Katie looked up and saw Peter first and demanded with a crayon in hand, "Do you got a point-ment?"

"Um …  _No_ ," Peter said. "And I don't need one! 'Fesser Zavier said I don't!"

"Yeah you  _doooo_ ," Katie sang out to him - though she got sidetracked when she saw K and let out a squeal of happiness. "Hi, Mom! Hiiiii!" she said, waving with both hands.

K blinked at her, more than a little surprised that no one had corrected the little spitfire. "Hi, Katie," K sang back, though her hands were occupied with Kurt and Peter.

"Do  _you_ gotsa a point-ment, Mom?" she asked.

"Ooooh, No, no I don't. I'll come back," she said, spinning - and pulling the boys in a wide arc so they had to run to keep on the right sides.

"No!" Katie scrambled down out of Charles' lap as both Charles and Hank shared little smiles at the whole situation. The little girl rushed over to K and, seeing that her hands were occupied, simply attached to her leg, sitting on her foot.

K smirked at her determination and pulled the boys closer just to tickle them for a moment to get her hands free. She rested one hand on Katie's head as soon as she could. "Hey. You alright?"

Katie nodded. "Uh-huh," she said. "I missed you lots, but I got to meet 'Vengers and have dance classes, so it was pretty fun."

"As long as you weren't too bored," K replied before she dislodged Katie enough for her to make a better rush and get a solid hug.

Katie wrapped her arms around K's neck and gave her a little kiss on the cheek. "Are you gonna stay, Mom? I really,  _really_ want you to."

"Yeah, I'm not going anywhere," K said. "There's a guy wandering around in a cape that says I should stay and tickle the boys until they're nice."

Katie giggled at that. "Oooh, you better watch out!" she said, pointing at Peter and Kurt.

"Oh yeah?  _We're_ not the bossy ones, Katie!" Peter shot back, sticking his tongue out.

Before Peter could finish, K reached over to pinch his tongue. "Watch where you stick that licker, little man."

Peter quickly covered his mouth with both hands as both Katie and Kurt dissolved into giggles. Katie gave K another hug and then waved at Charles. "Can me an' Mom get a big room with a big person bed, 'cause I don't think she can fit in the bunk beds."

"Whaaat?" K said, looking shocked before she gestured to herself. "You're almost as tall as I am! Of course I can fit in a bunk bed. Silly."

Katie tipped her head to the side with one eye closed. "Okay, you can  _try_ ," she said. "Can she?" she added Charles way.

"There's already a suite set aside for the two of you," Charles said with a warm smile. "With, I might add, room for any who might want to sleep over."

"Oh good!" Katie said happily. "Then Kitty can come over and Paige and her brothers and everybody!"

"And  _Tommy_ ," Peter said to Katie, who harrumphed at him and pulled a face.

"Tommy's sweet," K said. "And Billy too."

"Tommy  _kissed_ Katie," Peter sang in a tattle-tale tone.

"Kisses aren't bad," K said, frowning his way. "That's how boys tell you they like you." She tipped her head toward Katie. "But they should ask first."

Katie nodded fervently. "Uh-huh. What Mom said."

"Did he ask?" K asked her. "Or do I need to tell his mother he needs to learn that lesson?"

Katie bit her lip. "Well, no… but that's okay because I caught him in tag and shoved mud in his face so we're even."

K did her best to keep from outright laughing at that. "Attagirl," she said with a nod. "I'll bet you guys can find Scott, right?"

"Uh-huh!" Peter said. "I toldja we know where everything is!"

Katie rolled her eyes. "Everyone knows where Scott and Jean are.  _My Clint_ says that they have a sock on the door 'cause they're gettin married."

"Your Clint, huh?" K asked, one eyebrow raised. "I didn't know you liked Hawkeye  _that_ much."

"I caught him with a net, and now he has to teach me to be a 'Venger. That's what Iron Man said!"

"Oh, did he now?" K laughed.

"Uh-huh, he did, and Natasha said he's right, so Clint has to teach me stuff," Katie said, nodding as she bounced on her toes.

K smirked, listening to the little kid logic all the way to where Scott and Jean were, as Katie had said, fairly wrapped up in each other, even as they grabbed something to eat. They kept stealing kisses as they threw together a few sandwiches, clearly in each other's heads with no words spoken between them.

"AH-HEM," Kate said as she peeked over the counter's edge.

Scott smirked and reached over to ruffle Katie's hair. "Hey, Katie."

"We gotta show my mom where she's sleepin' and we're gonna need a buncha extra blankets an' pillows cause Professor said we can sleep over."

"Oh, that's definitely important," Jean said with a wide smile that she directed first at Katie and then at K. "Welcome, by the way."

"I'm pretty sure we need to chat later about all of this," K said. "Alone."

Jean nodded. "I'm sure," she said. "But in the meantime, why don't I get you some clothes and show you where you can find everything?"

"Great," K said, though when she looked down at the three little ones, every one of them was grinning up at her. "Lead the way."

By the time Scott had shown them to the suite he had already arranged for, the Guthries had caught wind of what was going on, so there was a pretty big gaggle of kids as Scott explained where to find the extra pillows and blankets in the bedroom closet and where K could find members of the team in an emergency - as well as, at the kids' insistence, where all of the kids' rooms were relative to her own.

"Thanks," K said as the kids buzzed around the room.

Jean smiled and leaned forward. "He's had this ready since you dropped Katie off," she stage whispered to K.

K gave her a look. "We really need to talk about this."

Jean met her gaze and then nodded before she raised her voice slightly. "You guys go ahead and get things set up and pick out a movie. I need to borrow K, alright?"

"Okay!" Kitty called out. "She need jammies for our sleepover anyhow!"

"She sure does," Jean said with a smile.

As soon as Jean and K were out of the room and out of earshot from the kids, K turned her way. "I told him she wasn't mine," she said quietly. "I can't keep lying to this girl because of mistaken identity. What happens when she wants stories from when she was little?"

Jean frowned as she handed K a few changes of clothes and began digging for something for her to sleep in. "I looked in her head; she  _knows_ you're her mother, in her mind. And the way she acts…"

K let out a breath and tipped her head to where the kids were making noise - at least to her ears. "I don't want to lie to a kid."

"You let her call you 'Mom'," Jean pointed out.

"I didn't know how to correct her, honestly," she said. "And she needed to get out of that building. I also introduced myself before she called me 'mom'."

"She's pretty convinced of your identity," Jean said, frowning as she considered it. "I don't know if it was the trauma of how you found her or if you just look like her mother, but all of the kids believe her too."

"I … have played with kids before, picked at them … but I don't know the first thing about being a  _mother._ "

"Neither do any of us," Jean said. "But we've been doing alright raising them as a team. You wouldn't be alone, you know." She gave K a kind smile. "I know you've heard it from everyone, Scott included, but really, you have a place to stay here, if you want it."

"I don't … have anywhere to go anyhow," K said. "And made it clear I should stay here."

"Well, I hope you can feel at least a little more at home here than your last place," Jean said with a small smile. "But I understand if you want to leave after things get sorted out with that demon."

"Yeah, I don't know how that'll work out, but … I guess we'll figure it out. Like it or not," she shook her head.

Jean bit her lip. "I… Charles and I looked into your mind. Wanda said it was important to know what the mark on your wrist was." For a moment, fire flashed in her eyes. "You have to know we won't let him do any of that to you."

"That part of the deal isn't going to happen. He completely failed on that one."

"Maybe so, but Wanda said the blood could be a way for him to control you," Jean told her frankly.

At that, K closed her eyes and let her shoulders droop as she swore up a streak in Swedish. "That … makes sense."

"We  _won't_ let him do that," Jean said again. "I promise."

"He's a little higher up the food chain than you realize," "K said. "But … I may have my own failsafe anyhow." She gave Jean a little dry smile. "I can't imagine what he'd want me for that would be  _that_ important."

Jean gave her a sharper smile for that. "Well,  _I_ am a little higher up the food chain than  _he_ realizes."

"Right," K said. "I'll just … go back to the little ones. I'm sure they'll be looking if they don't see me soon."

Jean nodded, then paused and reached out to rest a hand on K's shoulder. "I want to say thanks," she said. "Scott… is too mad to acknowledge anything right now, but…"

"She never should have gotten within a country mile of him."

"You've got that right," Jean said with real fire in the words.

K smiled tightly and then headed back toward the kids - who were of course, bouncing around the room - with a very obvious spot saved for her smack dab in the middle of them. The kids were excitable for the first half of the first movie … and then one by one the little ones started drifting off until all of them had passed out where they'd set up - some of them with their little bowls of popcorn still in their laps.

* * *

As it had turned out, the suggestion that Jean had given Logan and Tony lasted far longer for Tony than Jean had anticipated, and by the time he blinked awake, it was already the early morning and sunrise was almost over.

Of course, no one was around to tell Tony what all had happened, so when he got up, it was to simply head upstairs in search of coffee and a moment in a more comfortable bed. He wasn't thinking clearly enough to look and see if K was there - or to look for anyone that had been on the mission to see how it had ended. So Tony was blissfully unaware of all of the salient details behind all that had gone into getting K to Westchester.

Meanwhile, K wasn't particularly comfortable - or at ease knowing that Azazel was bound to show up sooner or later to try and collect, she had eventually fallen asleep with the little ones. But … last to bed for her meant first up, and as the sun started to really warm up the sky, K found a way to slip out from under the half dozen or so kids that were piled and stacked around her, though Kurt's tail around her ankle was most definitely the trickiest part of the escape.

Once she was loose of them, she headed for the door, mostly to try and get a little bit of fresh air, though she didn't get too far - and nowhere near one of the doors leading out of the mansion before a familiar voice caught her attention. "That's definitely a new look," Tony said. She spun his way and couldn't help but smile at the understated crooked smile he was wearing.

"Not exactly your usual crowd either," K pointed out as Tony closed the distance - completely ignoring the fact that they were in the open as he rested his hands at her waist and pulled her closer. "Don't you usually have yourself all tucked away from the group?" But Tony wasn't about to rise to the bait, and instead of picking back and forth, he simply pulled her into a kiss that was certainly not what she'd expected after the warning to keep back from Rhodey. Not that she was complaining as she slid one hand into his hair and let him lead.

"Ewwwww," said a little voice from behind the corner, and when the kiss broke and they looked, Katie was sticking her head out of the suite and making a spectacular face.

"Nuh-uh," K said, scrunching her nose up right back at her, rolling with it - particularly since she wasn't in the mood to let go of him when he was clearly happy to see her. "He's not 'ewww'."

"Yeah-huh," Katie said. "He's got a beard and it's  _scruffy_."

K smirked and reached up to straighten out Tony's mustache before she stole a quick kiss. "I like it. It's not scruffy."

"Well, if the lady likes it," Tony said with a smirk.

Katie rolled her eyes  _hard_ at that. "That's so gross," she said, though she was already making her way over to half curl into K's side. "How come you're kissing my mom?"

"We've … kinda been dating for a while," Tony said.

Katie scrunched up her nose at Tony and then glanced up at K before she let out a full-body sigh. "Fine. But she's  _my_ mom so you have to  _ask_ before you kiss her. She says that's how it goes."

"He asked," K said. "And I told him he can kiss me whenever he wants."

"Okay, it's your face he's scuffing up," Katie said, wrinkling her nose at K. "Whatever."

"He's not …" K let out a little sigh and shook her head at Katie. "He's not scuffing up anything." She stole one more kiss that had Tony grinning before she headed back toward Katie. "I'll catch you later to fill you in, . Katie informed me that she needs some time - and you and I will need privacy."

"We're gonna color!" Katie said helpfully, swinging K's hand. "I'm gonna let Kurt have my blues 'cause he's blue."

"Tony likes red best," K said. "Isn't that right?"

Tony of course smirked and agreed, though he was wondering how exactly he was going to get a word in edgewise with Katie running the show. "When do you think you'll be free for five minutes?"

"I don't know … the kid brigade is taking turns," K said. "So if it keeps up … probably … five, six years … maybe get the details from Jean if you're anxious. I'm sure she'll fill you in. Especially since I need more than five minutes alone with you, if you're game."

"You can bring your boyfriend coloring if you wanna," Katie said in a sigh.

"Look, you got permission to come and  _play_ ," K sang out. " _Lycklig och tilldragande._ "

Katie scrunched her nose up at that. " _Ihaega andoeneundeyo_ ," she muttered.

"Which language was that?" Tony asked, abandoning his attempt to pull K away when this was equally interesting.

"Korean," Katie said with a smile. "My daddy's parents changed his name to Derek."

"These kids could teach half the languages on the planet," Tony said, shaking his head. "Seems like every one of them knows something different."

"Don't look at me," K said. "Outside of the Swedish, all of mine are pretty tame."

"Kurt speaks German," Kate put in helpfully.

"Yeah, I can do German," K said. "And French."

" _Oh, vous parlez français aussi_?" Tony said - his hand again at K's waist as she smirked up at him and Katie pulled a face.

" _Oui, voudrais-tu que je te montre tout le français que je connais_?"

" _S'il vous plaît. Êtes-vous prêt à reprendre là où nous nous sommes arrêtés_?" The expression he was wearing was pure trouble, and it had been long enough since K had seen it that, she couldn't quite help herself before she found that she was nodding with an almost breathy ' _oui'_ that had Tony grinning outright.

Katie tipped her head to the side and frowned before she nodded to herself before she more or less weaseled her way between K and Tony - even if he didn't take his hand off of K's waist. "You're  _weird_. I'm gonna ask Kurt to learn me German," Katie said.

"He'll love it," K promised. "I'm pretty sure you can play the game with you that we played to get him going on more English."

"Oooh, okay," Katie said. "After we color, you can show me that game and I'll play with Kurt!"

"It's pretty simple," K said before she smirked at Kate. "I'd point to something and he'd have to say the name of it in English, and when it was his turn, he'd point to something for me to tell him the name in German." They were getting settled in with the coloring books and crayons. "Like this?" K said, picking up a purple crayon. "What's this?"

"Um, purple."

"In German and Swedish, it's  _lila_."

"That's pretty," Katie giggled, kicking her feet up behind her as she pulled out her princess coloring book. "I like this game."

"You can start with things that are easy like that," K said.

"Okay. How do I say 'good morning'?" she asked. "I know morning is 'morgen' because it  _sounds_ like morning."

" _Guten Morgen_ ," K said.

Katie giggled and repeated it a few times to herself, happily coloring as Tony leaned closer to whisper to K. "Why didn't you tell me about her?" he asked whisper quiet.

K turned his way and gave him a little look before she leaned close enough to let her lips brush his ear. "She's not mine. I've never had a kid before. She just … I guess I look like her mother. She's confused."

"And considering everything, you don't want to screw her up," Tony said, nodding to himself.

"Exactly."

"I guess that's fair. Seeing as you found kids that want to adopt every one of us … it's just right that you have one too."

K gave him a dry look then leaned forward to kiss him - which was the state of affairs until the other kids started to come in. And when Katie saw Kurt, she beamed. " _Guten morgen!_ " she called out happily.

Kurt almost did a double take before he broke into a beautiful grin. " _Guten Morgen!_ Are you learning  _deutsche_?"

"Uh-huh!" she said. "Mom taught me the game you played with her."

"That was a very good game to play!" Kurt said, grinning.

"You wanna play it with me?" Kate asked, which had Kurt grinning wider and nodding.

" _Hon är en så smart flicka, håller du inte med snygg_?" K said to Tony, who could really only smirk and shake his head.

"I have no idea what you just said," he admitted.

"So play it smart and just agree with me," K said with a purely troublemaking look.

Tony smirked at that and nodded. "Alright, but I better be agreeing to something nice."

"Always," she said, then paused. "Well. You'd appreciate the sentiment, how's that?"

"Eh, good enough," Tony said with a shrug before he stole a kiss.

Katie made a face and leaned over to Kurt. "Mom says she said he could do that whenever, but I still think you gotta  _ask_ , 'specially in  _public_."

Kurt frowned. "Always have to ask?" he said. "Even if it's not on the mouth? Because there are lots of kisses on the cheek that no one asks about."

Katie scrunched up her nose as she thought about it. "Yeah, that's true. Only on the mouth, then."

Kurt smiled to himself, already a little plan forming to get a smile out of Katie - even if he still thought he might be running a risk of getting hit like Tommy had managed to do. But he was keeping it to himself as much as he was able - even if his tail was giving away the fact that he was thinking very hard about his little plan.

But it wasn't until Katie was nearly done with her coloring page - and needed the blue for the final touches to Cinderella's dress that he had a chance to move on it. He didn't wait for her to ask for it, and the moment that Katie turned his way, he stood up, swept into the same darling little showman's bow he'd used at the circus and gave the back of her hand a little kiss. "Did you need some blue?" He was grinning by the time he'd delivered his little line and Tony didn't even bother trying to hold back the absolute  _glee_ at watching the kid work up an original line.

Katie blinked at him for a second and then broke into absolute giggles. "You're silly!"

"He's a darling little romantic," K said, smiling at both of them. "What color was that crayon, Katie?"

"Oooh, ooh, it was… it was… oh, I don't know blue," Katie said, her expression falling.

"It's  _blau,_ " K said quietly. "Almost the same ..." She looked over to Kurt. "Your turn, little one."

Kurt grinned. "What about this one?" he asked, picking up a brown crayon.

"Oh, he's smart," Tony said over K's shoulder at a mock whisper before he turned to Kate. "You know this one, kiddo."

Kate shrugged. "Well, it's brown…"

" _Ja, braun_ ," Kurt said, grinning and nodding.

"Kid's a  _natural_ ," Tony said quietly, though it had K trying not to laugh - particularly since clearly, Tony wasn't wrong - especially with Katie and Kurt now very much absorbed in naming colors to each other and giggling.

It wasn't long before the two little ones were giggling their way into the next room and naming off one thing after another - and of course, Kurt was going out of his way to find things that were almost the same in English as they were in German for Katie, completely stacking their game in her favor - and happily showing off when she'd point out more difficult things she thought would be similar.

"That was easy enough," K said as she turned toward Tony to steal a much longer kiss.

"We still need to talk about this deal you made with the devil," Tony said with a little frown when the kiss broke.

K let out a sigh and rested her hand on the side of his neck. "First of all, he's a demon. Not the devil. And I was planning to die from what I knew was going to happen. I just wanted to make sure that the twins would be safe."

"K, honey, you gotta put a worth on yourself too," Tony said quietly. "If that wasn't the case, the devil-"

"Demon."

"Whatever. The point is that he wouldn't have  _stalked you_ to get a deal to start with." Before he could keep talking, K pushed forward and kissed him back into the couch. "You gonna do that every time I'm right?"

"Maybe."

"Then … we're not going to be doing a whole lot of anything else."

"And thus ends the kissing for you being right," K said - which got a laugh out of Tony as he refused to let her out of his reach.

….

Translated from Swedish:

 _Lycklig och tilldragande. -_ Happy and attractive

 _Hon är en så smart flicka, håller du inte med, snygg? -_ She's such a smart girl, don't you think, handsome?

From French:

 _Oh, vous parlez français aussi_? - Oh, you speak French too?

 _Oui, voudrais-tu que je te montre tout le français que je connais?_ \- Yes, would you like me to show you all the French I know?

 _S'il vous plaît. Êtes-vous prêt à reprendre là où nous nous sommes arrêtés_? - Please. Are you ready to pick up where we left off?


	39. The Calm

In spite of the fact that Dr. Strange had put up a very good defense to keep Azazel  _back,_ the bulk of those protections could really only cover those that  _weren't_ bearing Azazel's sigil. Which meant that it was, in fact, highly advantageous to the Avengers and X-Men and all the kids, but for K …

She'd just managed to get away from the kids and get a cup of coffee to drink outside of the kitchen on the patio with Tony when she caught the scent of brimstone. Out of the corner of her eye, a very familiar form appeared - in his full, red-skinned glory as he stalked toward K and Tony with a grin. "Ah. There you are," he said in a low purr. "I had wondered when you'd find the time to step outside of those walls."

"Looks like Strange needs to ramp up his spells," Tony said, watching the demon carefully.

"He actually did a fine job," Azazel said. "But he can't work around my mark or all that it carries very well."

"What do you want, Azazel?" K asked, doing her best version of unconcerned as she picked up her mug and took a sip.

"To collect my fee, of course," he replied, still grinning - though he had yet to blink.

K narrowed her eyes slightly and gently shook her head. "No."

Azazel's eyes flashed as he unconsciously drew himself up. "I"m afraid you can't simply deny me what's mine, my dear, though I appreciate the attempt at a double cross."

K shook her head as she set her mug down and stretched out a bit. "Not trying to double cross," K said. "But you didn't complete your end of the deal in order to collect. You were supposed to remove part of Magneto's genetic powers, and in return …" she gestured to herself and shrugged. "That didn't happen."

"Yes, but that's not what I'm here to collect - not that I'd turn you down."

"I'm perfectly happy with who I'm with now, thank you," K replied.

"Yes, well," Azazel barely glanced at Tony before he took another step closer to K. "As I said, I'm not here to collect  _that_ prize. I will, however take your blood. Just a vial." He smirked at Tony. "Don't worry, she'll be more than capable of continuing to entertain you with the small amount of blood I'll be leaving with."

"That's not going to happen either," K said. "Seeing as you didn't provide what you agreed to for that either."

"I stopped the white whore from stealing the Summers boy's virtue," Azazel replied. "She was right on the edge of it, too. The mental anguish on discovering her would have been … more than a bit traumatic."

"I'm sorry, Azazel, but that's still a breach of contract," K said, keeping her even confident tone even as Azazel darkened the sky and poisonous black clouds lit by red began to cover the sun. She set her mug aside and got to her feet to meet him face to face, and before she could continue, Tony already had a repulsor whining and ready to blast the demon across the lawn.

"He is unharmed and safe on the ground because of me," Azazel growled, his tail switching behind him as he stood his ground - apparently unable to get any closer to Tony or the building.

"Yes he is," K agreed. "However - we never agreed to what a partial payment might look like, and there were no stipulations surrounding what would be paid should you only  _partially_ succeed." She smirked at him and crossed her arms. "I honestly expected more from a demon king."

Azazel narrowed his eyes at that. "Don't worry, my pet, I'll be sure you get far  _more_  than you expected."

K held his gaze for a long moment. "What do you want my blood for anyhow? If it's benign enough, I may just go along if you're honest with me."

"You can't lie to me, woman," Azazel snapped. "You have no intentions whatsoever to follow though. I can see that."

"And if you could enforce it, you would. So forget about her and move on," Tony interjected as he stepped up beside K and put his hand at her waist. "You have no business here."

"Ah. Well, I suppose we'll simply have to disagree on that," Azazel replied. "We're not done, Lilja. Not until I've claimed what I am owed."

It was clear how angry he was, but as he made a move toward the two of them, Tony quickly held up his hand and blasted Azazel a solid fifty feet back - while simultaneously pulling K to get her inside - and into the safety of the mansion. "He was leaving," K said, looking as if she simply couldn't understand why Tony was being protective.

"You don't  _know_ that," Tony countered, though his frown lost a lot of its fire the further they got from the demon - and deeper into the protection that the mansion held from Strange's spellwork. "If this was a court of law, the case would be dismissed, but this guy … he's not letting go that easy."

K let out a long, slow breath. "What do I have to do to get you to relax a little?"

The corner of Tony's mouth tightened as he shrugged one shoulder and his focus went wide - well over her shoulder. "I don't know. Maybe stop  _taunting_ the demon?"

"You really have no room to talk," K replied, tapping him on the center of his arc reactor. "You blasted him across the lawn."

"Right. Because he was threatening you and wants in your pants."

K's chin tipped up at that and she watched him for a long moment. "Territorial much?"

"Not  _usually_ , no," Tony admitted. "This is different."

"That … is not what I was expecting to hear."

The two of them simply stared at each other in the kitchen for a long moment until Jan came through to refill some coffee, though if she noticed that something was happening, she didn't say a peep about it, instead inviting both of them for more coffee - and grinning when she got her own mug filled. "You know it's really sweet that you two are up having coffee before the kids get moving."

"It's about the only time open right now," Tony said, breaking the spell as he headed over for a refill. "Everyone's excited. Lots of emotion going around in the elementary school crowd."

"Well if you want a break, I can  _totally_ set up a slumber party for the kids. They'd  _love_ a movie night with Aunt Jan - even if it's just an excuse for you two to get some time together now that everyone  _knows_ what you've been up to."

"Just tell me if it was Rhodey or Clint," K said.

"It was  _definitely_ Clint," Jan said. "But I've known since just after Genosha."

K turned her way looking perfectly open. "What did it?"

Jan glanced up at Tony, unable to hide her smile as it grew. "Cap … described your birthmark, and when you were changing …" her left hand had drifted up to rest on her own right shoulder as she grinned.

"You're kidding me," K said in a breath before she had to laugh. "Okay, I don't feel so bad then."

"And … as soon as we straighten out this whole … demon issue, you two can try  _actual_ dating instead of just … what you've been doing," Jan said as she gave Tony a wink. "He's been in a  _great_ mood since you two started up and I hate to see that end if it doesn't have to." Jan pirouetted as she turned and bounced out of the kitchen as K turned toward Tony, who definitely looked like he'd been busted a little.

"So … Katie wasn't wrong," K said slowly. "You're looking for more than just fun."

"I thought I'd made that much clear already," Tony said. "I was driving myself nuts trying to figure out how to keep you away from Magneto. You should see the device I've got worked up. It's … well. It almost works. We were just missing a key component."

"What were you missing?"

"You," he said without missing a beat, then of course, he rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Well. Your specific blend of adamantium. Every time it's made, it's a little different, and we have it dialed in to a molecular level."

"So … if you could have gotten me for a few hours …"

"Avalon would still be floating," Tony said.

K set her coffee aside just so she could hop up and sit on the counter - actually putting her more at eye level with him. "You really went through all that just to get me away from him?"

"Didn't want him working you over. Phoenix knocked me out so I couldn't go with."

"How rude. You were so close to another amazing save. And they totally wrecked your average of catching me again."

"Technically - it wasn't a catch since they were rescuing," Tony pointed out as he stepped closer and rested a hand on either side of her as he stepped in to steal a long and involved kiss. The two of them were simply getting caught up when a loud 'A-HEM' echoed the kitchen and just that quickly, the kiss broke and K leaned over to see Peter and Katie standing at the door to the kitchen. Peter was grinning outright and Katie had her arms crossed over her chest.

"Is that all you  _do_?" Katie asked.

"Does this mean you're gonna be Katie's new dad?" Peter asked, then turned to Katie. "Oooh! That would be cool! You'd have  _Iron Man_  for a dad!"

"You're getting a little ahead of yourself, wall crawler," K said as Tony laughed at the expression on Katie's face on hearing Tony could be her new dad, all huffy with her hands on her hips as she rolled her eyes. K pushed back on Tony's shoulders just enough that she could slip back off the counter, though the only real separation was from Tony finally heading over to get some coffee.

"Nuh-uh," Katie said. "If he was gonna be my dad,  _I'd know_." She glanced up at Tony, who was smirking hard at her, and then simply narrowed her eyes before she turned to face Peter. "Besides, he's  _your_ dad."

Peter looked surprised and then started to shake his head. "Nuh-uh!"

"Uh-huh." Katie grinned wickedly. "He's teachin' you stuff just like  _my Clint_ teaches me."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean he's my  _dad_!"

"Sure does!" Katie grinned. "So are you gonna share Iron Man with me? Are you gonna be my  _big brother_?"

"No!" Peter said, his eyes wide as he shook his head.

"Brother Peter! Brother Peter!" Katie chanted - until Peter had no choice but to dash over and half hide behind K.

"Um … mazel tov," K said to Tony as Peter nearly pulled her off balance. "I didn't know you'd been adopted, handsome."

"News to me, but … I guess when in Rome," he replied. "Half of the X-kids want to take up any one of these little troublemakers for their own - not that my team is slacking on that either."

"Yeah, but …  _the kids_ are picking who they want, so, that seems to be you for Peter," K said. "Unless Peter would  _rather_ pick someone else?"

Peter shook his head, looking up at K with wide eyes. "No, if we're picking, I like Tony," he said quickly.

"Which is going to be a little awkward since  _all_ the kids will want to pick you, sweetheart," Tony said with a smirk.

"Peter - tell him he's full of it," K said.

"That's not nice to say to a daaaad," Peter giggled.

"I'm very sure he said a lot worse to his," K said, which only got a laugh out of Tony.

But Katie was nodding quickly. "Everybody loves my mom," she said. " _Everybody!_ Paige and Kitty and Kurt and Tommy…"

"That's a lot of little ones," K said. "And I'm pretty sure they all would want to pick for themselves, sunshine."

Katie nodded. "That's what I  _said_! They all like  _you_!"

"The way I heard it, Paige and Sam would go with Natasha and Clint - and Kurt would pick Logan," K said.

Katie scuffed her feet. "Well, yeah… but that don' mean they don' all love you, though!"

"Didn't say they didn't," K said, pulling Katie over to wrap her up in a little hug that she  _clearly_ needed. "So. There's a difference between loving people and wanting to  _keep_ them forever."

"But you're gonna stay, right?" Peter asked suddenly. "Because… because I like Tony an' all but I don't want you to go either!"

"Sure looks like I'm going to be here for a long while," K agreed.

"Good, 'cause I love you!" Peter declared and then turned suddenly bashful and hid behind her leg again.

"What have you been  _telling_ these kids, Tony?" K asked, resting one hand on Peter's head.

"Not me!" He defended. "They've spent most of their time with the X-Men, so I don't know who you need to blame."

"I like the X-Men," Katie told K with a grin. "Scott-Cyclops lets me play with him and Mr. Charles-Professor lets me help!"

"I did tell you they were good guys, right?" K said, though her smile didn't exactly meet her eyes all the way. "And you  _know_ the Avengers are good guys."

"Uh-huh." Katie nodded seriously. "Tony says since I gotted Clint with a net he's gotta teach me to be a 'Venger, but I like the X-Men too!"

K turned toward Tony with a smirk. "Is that how you recruit everyone? Nets?"

"No, sometimes we have to fill the air ducts with knockout gas. Never know what you might find in there," Tony replied straight faced without missing a beat.

"Pretty sure you'd need to clear those kinds of catches past everyone else," K said.

"Nah," Clint said as he and Natasha came to see what the fuss was, though Natasha was wearing a more serious expression than usual. Katie beamed and rushed over to Clint to be picked up and snuggled. "You catch someone who's clearly meant to be on the right side of the law and you convert 'em, right?"

"I wouldn't know," K said.

"You gonna be a 'Venger too, Mom?" Katie asked. "They fight monsters just like you!"

"I think she'd do a lot of good on the team," Tony said - more to Katie than anyone. "You know she's the one that got us cleared of the tower before it went down?"

"That's 'cause my mom is the best," Katie said, drawing herself up proudly.

"Yeah, I think I'd need to hear it from more than just  _the boyfriend_ ," K teased. "Sounds a little like something you need to clear by everyone  _else_."

"I'm fine with it," Clint put in.

"I'm thinking more of the other ladies," K said as tactfully as she could. "Though I'm glad to hear your thoughts, ma'am."

"I've been inducted into the heroine club, Nat," Clint chuckled.

"You are such a damsel in distress sometimes," she teased lightly before she tipped her head K's way. "I'd want to talk to you more, of course, but Tony does have a point," she admitted. "I can't exactly argue, considering how Clint and I joined the team."

"This really isn't the conversation I thought I'd be having with you.  _Any_ of you," K said.

"You'd rather be discussing visitation rights and custody battles?" Clint said with a smirk. "Seeing as everyone one of 'em is attached to you."

"No, I'm fine playing auntie," K said.

"Fine by me. I'm pretty sure the Guthrie kids don't let Natasha take five steps without mobbing her," Clint said with a nearly obscene grin.

"You sure they aren't hoping for a little red-headed sibling?" K asked.

Natasha gave her a dry, dry look. "No."

"I'm teasing," K said very carefully. "And I'm pretty sure your sweetie's heart stopped for a second there."

"I'm fine," Clint put in - though absolutely no one believed that.

"Okay, sure," Tony said, frowning at Clint. "If you say so."

Katie giggled and patted Clint's cheeks. "You need gummy bears," she decided.

Clint smirked at that and nodded. "Yeah, let's get gummy bears," he agreed, hoisting Katie onto his shoulders - with Peter not far behind, since he didn't want to be left out of the candy.

"I'd apologize for Tony, but … you know how this works out better than I do," K said once the little ones and Clint were cleared out, though she was genuinely smiling at her. "And I really was just teasing."

Natasha let out a sigh. "It's fine," she said tightly. "Paige asks Clint almost every day when he's going to marry me, that's all."

"Oh. I'm sorry," K said. "But … for as long as you've been together, what's the trouble?"

Natasha shrugged lightly. "Until those kids came along,  _family_ was not nearly on our radar." She shook her head. "And to be frank, the ongoing war Magneto caused is  _not_ the backdrop I would consider for a move like that, no matter what those two X-Men think."

"They're practically teenagers," K said. "They don't know any better. Take your time."

Natasha tipped her head at K. "I'll take exactly as long as I like," she said with a smirk before she turned to leave. "And I'm sure you'll do the same."

"I absolutely will," K agreed. "Even with all things considered. Which - you don't have to involve yourself in either, by the way."

Natasha waved her hand. "Those kids have already made up their mind, and I made up mine long ago that I wouldn't turn away those who need it," she said, then paused. "And I think you have the same code, as I understand it."

"Obviously," K agreed, gesturing around herself. "Scott still won't look at me, let alone say a word to me. So."

Natasha shrugged and gestured to K's wrist, where Azazel's mark was still hidden. "You probably won't be surprised to hear that I saw what happened between the two of you and the demon a little while ago on surveillance. So ...with that in mind, if you were the leader of a team of heroes, and you heard all of what transpired, would you be comfortable knowing your  _virtue_ was considered 'partial payment'?" she asked.

"I still say that's a stretch," K replied.

"It is, but this is the situation," Natasha said. "And for the record, if that demon comes within sight of you, I have a new Widow's Bite Tony made for me meant to take down large, powerful opponents…"

"I may work one up that's loaded with holy water or something," Tony said, shrugging ."I dunno what works on demons. Wooden stakes?"

"That's vampires and lawyers," K said, barely glancing his way with a fond expression that had him smirking crookedly at her.

"Strange said holy water would work," Natasha agreed with a nod, amusing herself with the little show in front of her.

"Then I guess I should find a church," Tony said.

Natasha paused, smirked, and then tossed her hair over her shoulder as she slipped out the door with a quiet, "Don't get ahead of yourself," as she did so that had K frowning after her.


	40. Aunt Jan

It was a few days before Jan had together everything she wanted for the  _amazing_ sleepover that she'd planned out for the kids, and it couldn't come soon enough as far as Tony was concerned. It had been far too long of nothing romantic but PG-13 at  _best_ , and though he was enjoying the kids, he was pretty sure something had to give.

Of course, the kids were excited and Jan had a few movies ready to go- nothing too scary or too little for them- and she'd spent hours setting up the movie room with everything that they'd need for an amazing evening. She'd pitched little tents in front of the screen so all the kids could pick a buddy and snuggle in sharing a tent and snacks. She'd come up with games for them to play and crafts for them to do - anything and everything one could imagine that the kids could possibly want for an evening of fun with Aunt Jan.

Of course, a lot of the little groupings in the tents were completely predictable, with the best friends all bunking up together. Paige and Jubilee, Kitty and Sam, Peter and Kurt…

Even Josh was there, trying to follow his siblings around, curled up between Paige and Jubilee as the two little girls tried to explain to him what all the dinosaurs were - though he was obviously more interested in eating all of the pretzels in the little cup Jan had for him. One. At. A. Time.

Jan couldn't help but make a little sound that said she was dying of cute, too, when she saw that Wanda's boys were not only excited about the movie night but were making themselves more than comfortable. Billy was even  _holding Teddy's hand_ as they set up tents, while Tommy was  _clearly_ trying to figure out how to do the same when Katie was giving him a "try it and you get mud in your face" kind of look.

"But Teddy's holding Billy's hand!" Tommy pointed out.

Katie gave him such a  _look_ for that, though. "And?"

"And I wanna hold yours too!"

Katie wrinkled up her nose at him. "Why?"

At that, Tommy simply looked more exasperated. "Cause I think you're pretty, and I wanna, and you said I gotta ask - so are you gonna or not?"

Jan was barely keeping her laughter to herself as Katie let out an incredibly put-upon sigh… and then grinned and grabbed Tommy's hand and kissed him on the cheek. "Okay!" she said brightly. "Thank you for askin'!"

Which, of course, just had Jan hiding her face behind a pillow and wondering if K was  _sure_ Katie wasn't biologically hers because wow. She so could have been.

Kurt hadn't missed it either, and he was almost pouting in his little pup tent - his blanket pulled up halfway over his head, though his tail was switching behind him showing exactly how upset he was. Which would have been pitiful if it wasn't for the fact that Kitty seemed to almost appear in his tent next to him - with an entire bag of pilfered M&M's.

"I don't really wanna share with the itty bitty Quicksilver look alike," Kitty whispered to Kurt, gently pushing the M&M's toward him.

"Neither does Kurt," Peter whispered with a little smirk.

"I think we oughta try out the shaving cream trick on him," Kitty whispered.

Peter's smirk turned into a wide grin. "Oooh, yes," he said, nodding seriously. "Because we are Team Kurt." He held out his hand for Kitty to shake, and when she did, he grinned. "There. Now it's ofizzle."

"He's goin'  _down_ , fuzzy Elf," Kitty promised before she kissed his cheek. "So cheer up!"

Kurt's tail was switching behind him for a moment longer before he finally gave the two of them an impish sort of grin. "Only… only if  _I_ get to put his hand in the water."

"Oh yeah," Kitty agreed. "That's gonna be hilarious." She peeked out of the tent. "You think we can find a camera?"

"Aunt Jan'll help," Peter said. "Or… or probably Logan if we tell 'im we're gettin' the mini Quicksilver."

"I don't know about that," Kurt said. "He told me we need to help them not be floating criminals. So I don't think he'd  _help._ "

"Yeah, but… but shaving cream!" Peter said, wide-eyed.

"I don't think he'll mind if we  _borrow_ his shaving cream," Kurt clarified before he peeked out of the tent to see Jan trying to hide the fact she'd been listening.

Of course, Peter had no idea that Jan was in on the plan, so it was that much funnier watching him try to come up with a sneaky "reason" for why he wanted to leave the movie night….

"I… I gotta go potty," he informed Jan, a bit louder than he had to.

"Okay," she sang back to him. "I'm sure Kitty will keep your spot warm!"

Peter grinned at that before he slipped out of the room, almost skipping down to Logan's room to knock on the door, bouncing on his toes and grinning to himself and busting out with a "I need your help!" before the door was even open.

"It's open. Unless you want me to fight someone. Then go away," Logan called out. When Peter didn't speak up right away, Logan turned to see the little boy standing there - belatedly waving the tips of his fingers. "What do you want?"

"Ummm… I need your shaving cream," Peter said, bouncing from one foot to the other.

"What for?" Logan asked. "You're probably about twenty years out from actually needing it."

Peter shook his head, still bouncing and biting his lip. "Welllllll…  _maybe_ it's for Tommy 'cause he's tryna steal Katie and me and Kitty are Team Kurt butyoucan'ttellanybodyokay?" he said, the words tumbling out of his mouth.

Logan frowned at that and got up from where he was sitting to cross the room without a word spoken - only to return with the shaving cream and simply hand it over. "Is that all you're doin' to him?"

"Well, you know, gotta stick the hand in the water 'n' stuff…"

Logan nodded at that, and seeing as it wasn't anything  _actually_ harmful, he simply gestured for him to go. "Don't get caught."

"We won't!" Peter assured him, grinning and running as fast as he could back to his co-conspirators - all of whom were just  _waiting_ for the right time to strike.

Which… was a surprising amount of waiting, since Tommy didn't seem to  _slow_ down for things like naps or bedtime, either.

When he finally did drift off, though, he was solidly  _out_ , his mouth open and his head tipped back and snoring and everything, so they knew that he would be asleep enough to play their little prank as soon as Katie left to go get more M&Ms.

The three troublemakers were giggling to themselves as they got everything set up, and as soon as Tommy's nose scrunched up with his hand in the water, they tickled his nose… and  _blam_ , he splattered shaving cream all over himself.

Tommy startled awake to the sound of the other kids falling apart laughing, and he turned bright red, stammering and blinking and half hiding underneath his sleeping back as he tried to wipe the cream off his face.

Which was, of course, when Katie got back to see the scene… and she let out a little gasp before she rushed over with the most adorable look of pure  _concern_ Jan had ever seen. "You guys're ganging up!" she accused the other three, hands on her hips as she stood in front of Tommy.

"It's just a prank," Kitty said, one hand on her hip as she tipped her chin up. "That's what happens at sleepovers!"

Katie made a face. "Yeah, but they're  _new_ and their grandpa  _died_ an' stuff so we're s'pposed to be nice."

"We weren't tryin'ta be mean," Peter said. "We were just playin'."

Katie glanced at Tommy, who looked between the four kids and finally grinned. "That's okay," he said. "I play pranks on Billy ("yeah he does," Billy chimed in) so it's okay as long as it's at sleepovers and not  _always_."

Katie tipped her head to the side as she considered it before she nodded. "Okay. I just wanna make sure 'cause everyone was  _real_ nice to me when my dad died and I was new and you looked really sad when I came in…"

"We haven't been  _mean_ ta him," Kitty defended, putting her feet in a wider stance as she crossed her arms.

Katie rolled her eyes and then sat by Tommy. "Okay. But it  _looked_ like it."

"Is that your way of sayin' you want us to get  _you_ next time?" Kitty asked. "Cause we can!"

"No!" Katie's eyes were wide as she shook her head quickly. "I'm just tryna be  _nice_  that's all! 'Cause they're new! We can pick on 'em when they're not new!"

"Maybe it's  _only_ cause they're new," Peter whispered to Kurt with his hand covering his mouth so no one else could hear him.

"Maybe," Kurt said, though his tail was switching behind him and he was obviously frustrated by how the whole thing had taken a turn.

"Sides," Peter said slowly, "she doesn't make  _you_ ask as many times as Tommy…"

Kurt nodded, very slowly, " _Ja… das ist richtig_ …"

"So … are we gonna keep sleepin' out in the living room or are you going to keep bein'  _drama-tic?_ " Kitty teased.

"We could  _all_ be dramatic," Kurt said, trying to ease the picking just a bit.

"I can be dramatic," Billy said, popping his head out of the tent where, it turned out, he was not actually asleep.

"Do you want to play pirates?" Kurt asked, his tail swaying at a much more relaxed pace now that he had something to focus on.

"Oooh, yes!" Billy nodded excitedly. "I wanna eyepatch!"

"Then you can be on my crew," Kurt said.

"I wanna peg leg," Tommy put in, wiping the last of his cream off his face.

"I don't know how to do that, but … okay," Kurt said. "We can try." He offered Tommy a hand up - and as soon as he was on his feet the three boys took off running looking for  _costumes_ of all things.

And as the kids prepared to raid Scott's evening, Jan waited for them to disappear growling out yarg's as they went before she headed down to speak with Dr. McCoy, bearing gifts of snacks and good company.

"Ah, the darling of the Avengers," Hank sang out as she stepped into the lab. "What could I possibly have done to rate such a lovely visitor on this fine evening?"

"Just being you, of course!" Jan sang out as she gave him a little hug. "And maaaaaybe because are you  _sure_ \- I mean - could you  _maybe_ double-check that Katie's not, you know - I mean, she's  _so totally K_ …"

"You think our newest little feral friend might be lying?" Hank asked in a teasing tone. "What did Katie do this time?"

"Oh, laying down the law… standing up for the little guy… breaking hearts…."

"Ah. A familiar pattern then," Hank laughed.

"Exactly!" Jan pointed at him. "So… whatcha got?"

Hank didn't bother to hide the smile as he waved her over and pulled out a file from his top drawer. "As a matter of fact," Hank said. "I  _may_ have run that very test while she was unconscious." He slid the file to Jan with a widening grin. "And I may have done it three times to be sure."

"So you didn't believe it either," Jan giggled, though she was pushing out her lower lip when she saw it.

"No, I did not," Hank replied. "And if you'd seen her wild escape from here the first time we had her ... " He shrugged. "Well. Underdog is something else, even if Warren swears his finger isn't the same anymore."

"Hey, Warren can stop whining because the way  _Cap_ tells it, there was more than a finger at risk when she escaped from  _us_ ," Jan said with a little giggle.

"I'm afraid the good Captain has once again failed to tell me the most important details, though I can tell you myself, she's slippery when she's got her eyes on the exit."

"Well." Jan leaned forward with a twinkle in her eye. "Let's just say if things don't work out with Tony? Cap may want some followup to the  _tease_."

Hank's eyebrows were high on his head. "You'll need to explain that in more detail, my dear," he said as he pulled a bottle of wine out of his bottom desk drawer - which she saw contained a cooler. "What happened to get Cap's feather's ruffled?"

Jan giggled. "Oh, well, she had her hands in cuffs, right? And Cap was trying to stop her, so… what better way to keep his hands away than to put 'em right where he doesn't want to lose anything  _precious_ …"

For a moment, Hank simply blinked at her - and then burst out laughing. "Simplicity is often most effective."

"I have  _never_ seen that shade of red on him and he wears  _red, white, and blue_!" Jan laughed, leaning back and barely containing her  _glee_.

"How is it that we weren't regaled with this tale of battle before?" Hank asked, still chuckling to himself over the mental image. "And more importantly … we have a telepath. I'm  _sure_ that if you have a reliable witness we could all see how it went down …"

"Oh, I'm  _sure_ ," Jan laughed. "Jean is the best, and I'll totally ask her when I go get her all measured up for her  _wedding dress_." She looked positively tickled. "Which, by the way, I have to say again, is going to look ah-mazing!"

Hank was grinning widely at that. "Of course it is," Hank said, as if there was no other option. "And that too, was a wonderful moment. The pure shock was rolling off of Scott in waves."

"I'm so sad I missed it!" Jan pouted.

"I would be more than happy to have Charles help with that one, since I am very sure Jean wouldn't play along for the shade of red she turned when Scott realized what she'd let slip."

"Wait, wait, I thought  _he_ proposed. That's what Jean said!"

Hank slowly shook his head at that, the smile stretching wider somehow. "She lied."

"Okay, I need the whole story, like,  _yesterday_."

Hank took a moment to pour them both a glass of wine. "I'd be more than happy to share my perspective of the occasion for you."


	41. When Heroes Conspire

The reports were still coming in hard and heavy well for weeks after Avalon fell. Though Magneto was gone, his followers on Earth were still stubbornly sticking to Erik's hard line. They were attacking concentrations of humans - wreaking havoc where they could - and terrorizing anyone that stood against them.

Which was why Scott and Steve were again putting their heads together strategizing. They had to figure out how to best build their teams to fight back - and the need to properly mix mutants with non mutants was something that had to be addressed. A united front protecting both mutants and humans was the only way any of them could see peace happening. Of course, being sure to add Magneto's children to the roster was equally important. A way to show that even Erik's blood was convinced of their father's descent into madness - which , of course, they  _did_ agree on.

But it was Charles that suggested they use Erik's best recruiter against his agenda. "We'd need her to agree, of course," Charles said. "And then, we'll need to see what she's capable of."

"I thought you'd fought her," Steve said, frowning . "Shouldn't you know that already?"

"Well … I'm not entirely sure that when we found her at that Weapon X facility killing scientists that it was a fair estimation of what she is capable of," Scott agreed. "If she's anything like Logan - and … by the fight they had, it's probable- it might not have been a great measure."

"Yeah, he loses his temper and forgets most of what he was trained for," Steve agreed.

"And she had  _absolutely_  lost her temper by the time Logan tried to stop her," Scott said.

"So," Steve said before he drew in a deep breath and looked between Scott and Charles. "Who asks her to join?"

The three of them shared a look for a long moment. "I think Tony's the obvious choice," Steve said. "Seeing as they started up their relationship where they left off, I think it's safe to say she'll go along with just about anything he wants her to do." He was shaking his head as if he clearly couldn't believe Tony's luck.

Charles smirked and shook his head. "She has no trouble telling him no - rather creatively, if what I've seen is accurate."

"Then …" Steve turned to Scott. "I don't know. Pretty sure she won't listen to me."

"And I'm not the right one to talk to her," Scott said. "Not considering everything that happened."

"You think she'll … what? Turn you down for the hell of it?" Steve asked.

Scott frowned, and the corner of his mouth tightened. "No. I just think after everything that happened on Avalon, it's a different dynamic if I were to ask her," he said, obviously choosing his words carefully.

Steve frowned, but nodded. "We'll need to figure it out quickly if she'll have any impact on Magnetos followers. The longer we wait .."

"Then you'll need to pick someone," Charles said. "As much as I'd like to be the one, her outlook on telepaths is particularly bleak and she is barely holding herself back from growling when I enter the room."

"Considering who she had as reference…" Scott said darkly.

"Yes, well. It wasn't just Miss Frost that left a bad taste," Charles replied. "There were others."

Scott nodded at that before he tipped his head at Steve. "She went out of her way to save your team at the tower. I'm sure there's someone she's  _not_  sleeping with you can pick to talk about team matters."

Steve let out a sigh at that. "And normally, that'd be me. But … you didn't see her. She was ready to break my wrist for it being there," Steve said.

"But that's not entirely why you don't want to talk to her," Charles said with an amused smirk. "You don't know what to do with her outside of having her on your team."

"I just know that if we can get her onboard, it'll need to be using someone she actually likes. Once we can get her on the team, she'll need someone to keep an eye on her in the field and it doesn't matter if she likes whoever that is," Steve defended. "That I can do."

"And as for the initial approach itself?" Charles replied, one eyebrow raised.

"I still … am leaning toward Tony," Steve said with an open shrug.

"No way," Scott said. "He's been dating her all this time and no one  _knew_  about it - and it's obvious he's willing to let her set the terms to keep her around."

"I don't understand that," Steve said, shaking his head. "It's not like him to do things like that."

"Of course you don't understand," Clint's voice broke in from somewhere above them. "Cap, we need to get you laid. Like, yesterday." All three of the men in the room turned toward the voice as Clint banged the cover to the air vent open with a grin.

"I was wondering when you'd decide to join us, Mr Barton," Charles said, though it was hard to hide his amusement at the look on both Scott's and Steve's faces.

Clint laughed as he climbed out and dropped down to join the group. "You guys need someone to talk to her? Fine. I'll do it. She likes me well enough, and it's not like I've got any serious hangups like… half the guys around here do with this girl. Prolly cause I don't want to get in her pants." He grinned as he watched Steve give him a disbelieving look.

"It's not ..." Steve let out a long breath. "Fine. Good luck."

Clint gave Steve a two-fingered salute. "Tell Jan to warm up something with an 'A' on the shoulders," he said as he headed out - this time actually through the door to the room. "She'll love the project." With that, he simply grinned a little wider and headed out to go find K.

When Clint caught up o where K was - it wasn't exactly a shock to see that she was half curled up with Tony, though they definitely weren't as wrapped up as the last time he'd walked in unannounced. "Back for more tips?" K said as he stepped into the doorway - even though she wasn't facing him at all.

Clint snorted. "Yeah, no, I'm fine on that count," he said, leaning on the doorframe. "Just wanted to officially extend an invitation to join the Avengers. I'm the poster child for 'reformed' Avengers so, y'know, Cap sent me. How it goes."

"Oh, sure he did," she said dryly. "If this is his estimation of community service, I'm out."

"Okay, so I volunteered myself. Same thing. Still got the Cap seal of approval," Clint said with a shrug. "And I'm pretty sure Tony would argue that last bit seein' as Rhodey really liked pointing out to him how very unlikely it was that the warden of the raft would allow even the great  _Tony Stark_  to take a ton of conjugal visits."

K tipped her head back as far as it would go so she could look at him over the back of the couch. "Are you high? Or just …

"K, I thought you had heightened senses. Come on now. You know and I know I ain't high or lying or anything like that. It's a real invite, sweetheart. You  _earned_  it. Saved our butts a hundred times over." He paused and smirked. "And then you and Katie could be trainee Avengers together."

"I don't think I'm the kind of person you want," K said, leaning back - and slightly away from Tony. "Proven record of being a terrible team player, you know."

Clint shook his head. "Never know 'til you try, right? Worst case, you decide you hate it and you can just live in the tower giving Tony a reason to beat the bad guys faster or stay here at the school with Katie until  _she_ becomes an Avenger."

"I'm not setting foot in that tower anymore," K told him. "What's left of it anyhow. Unless you're okay with me trashing it."

"That's not what we're talking about, honey," Tony said. "The mess Magneto made of the tower will be taken care of. Not an issue. I already told you that  _we_ want you on the team.  _Repeatedly_."

"And I've repeatedly told you that you're out of your mind," K replied in just as reasonable of a tone as Katie skipped into the room, her teddy bear banging on the ground behind her - and the tiny I heart Hawkeye tee shirt on the bear already sporting a dozen stains and smudges.

Clint smirked at Katie's timing as he swept her up to sit on his shoulders. "What do  _you_ think, Katie? Think your mom would be a great Avenger?"

Katie didn't see the  _look_ K gave Clint; she was too busy squealing and giggling. "Ooh, yes! Mom, are you gonna be a 'Venger? You  _should_! You should be the  _best 'Venger ever_!"

Before K could answer, Tony cut across her. "We've been trying to convince your Mom to join up, Katie. She doesn't think she'd do very  _good_ at it."

Katie's eyes went wide, and she shook her head, scrambling down from Clint's shoulders to climb up beside K and take her face in her hands. "Mom, you're the bestest hero in the whole wide world," she said seriously. "Even better than my Hawkeye!"

"That part isn't hard to do," K said, which at least got a wider smile out of Tony. "But the rest of it? I think you're a little off, sweetie."

"I'm with Katie," Clint said. "You saved our team and the X-Men.  _Several times_. And Tony more than that. I know for a fact there have been times you've stopped Magneto's goons from finding our hideouts, and the whole time you were doing that, you saved a bunch of kids who would have died or been in  _really_ bad spots without you." He met K's gaze. "That's a  _way_ better resume than I had when I joined. So yeah, I think you're more than qualified. No joke."

"I don't know what you're talking about," K said - in a tone that was eerily similar to Natasha's when she refused to hear an argument.

"Yeah, you do!" Katie insisted. "You said you fight monsters and save people an' stuff. Don't be so  _silly_."

K let out a long sigh and melted into the couch- taking Katie with her as she put her legs over Tony's lap and let one arm flop off the couch. "I don't  _wanna._ "

Katie started to giggle at that. "But  _M-o-o-o-o-om_ , if you're not a 'Venger, how'm I s'pposed to take over after you're done runnin' 'em?"

"But I'm  _not_ runnin' 'em," K said, pulling her into a snuggle only to pepper her face with kisses. "I'm just kissin' one of 'em."

"C'mon, K, please?" Clint said with a little grin. "We know you're up to the kicking butt part, and if you're going to hang out with Tony all the time, you might as well play 'protect Iron Man' with the rest of us."

"I'm pretty sure I've already done all I can to protect Iron Man," K said. "Starting to think he just likes the attention. He probably  _purposely_ got himself into trouble at least half of those times." She pulled Katie so that she was leaning her back against K's chest - and facing Tony. "Doesn't he look like a damsel in distress?"

"Uh-huh," Katie said, giggling when Tony pulled a face at her.

"About the only thing he hasn't done so far is gotten tied to a railroad track," K added quietly in Katie's ear - though loud enough for Tony to hear, too.

Katie started to break down giggling at that. "But you'll save him, right, Mom?"

"I don't know …" K let out a weary sort of sigh. "I'm not even sure if he's housebroken."

"Oh, definitely not," Clint chuckled.

"That's okay," Katie giggled. "You an' me can be 'Vengers together and save him  _and_ Clint because Natasha says we need more girls on the team and that's why she's helpin' me learn stuff too!"

"I don't know, they already have an Avenger that does what I can do," K said. "And he actually  _scares_ the bad guys."

"Yeah, but they don't got a you, and they  _need_ a you," Katie said, her eyes wide. "Please oh please oh ple-e-e-e-e-ease?"

K pulled Katie tighter as the sassy little girl looked up at her - her head on K's chest and tipped backward. Tony and Clint were both looking far too smug ad obviously waiting on baited breath for what they knew was coming. K shook her head and let out a sigh. "I guess it depends on what I have to do."

"That part's pretty straightforward," Clint assured her. "Half of it is communication. Just let me or Steve know what your limits are, and I don't mean powers. People you aren't willing to face or situations you aren't willing to go in, lines you aren't willing to cross. I mean, we're the Avengers, so we don't cross many lines, but everybody's got something." He shrugged. "And then you'd do an eval, just so we can see what it looks like when you fight without either trying to sabotage your own team during the fight or going over the red line."

K closed one eye at that. "What kind of an eval?"

"Nothing that forces you into anything," Tony assured her, resting one hand on her knee just before Clint continued for him.

"Run you through a few scenarios that we'd typically run into, have you spar a few people. Not me, obviously. I'm not up to your strength. But Steve, Logan, maybe Thor if you feel like playing with a Norse god who likes to stretch his muscles on us puny mortals…"

K turned to Tony. "You totally put him up to this, didn't you?"

"I didn't even know they were still talking about this," Tony said. "I figured that you knew  _I_ wanted you on board and eventually that might be enough…"

She watched him for a long moment, though it was Katie that got her attention when she again turned entirely around in K's lap to go nose to nose with her. "Well?"

"Tell you what," K said, regaining a perfectly businesslike tone as she glanced between Clint and Tony. "I'll do your stupid evaluation, and when you say 'nevermind' I'll refrain from the 'told you so's."

Clint grinned crookedly at that and gave her a crisp sort of nod. "Deal."

* * *

K wasn't exactly thrilled at the prospect of an evaluation. Erik hadn't even pushed her for one, though if she thought about it, she knew he already had everything he wanted when he watched her tear apart Weapon X until she hit the point of failure. There really wasn't much left by then for him to clean up, after all.

And at least this time she wasn't naked for the group she'd be fighting and 'demo'ing for. At least there was that much.

"I didn't realize that the last time someone evaluated you, that you were in your birthday suit," Jean said gently, ten held up both hands. "I don't mean to eavesdrop, but it's hard to ignore when you're projecting everything from the nerves … especially so close to having let the Phoenix force out to play."

K gestured down at the simple black bodysuit she was wearing. "Yeah, well. This isn't exactly a lot better - and there's a bigger crowd this time that'll walk away from it." Even though the fabric couldn't physically hold a wrinkle in it, K couldn't help but compulsively 'smooth' it out over her stomach as she looked at herself in the mirror. "I'm not sure this is a good idea."

"The very fact that literally every single hero on both teams is disagreeing with you should count for something," Jean pointed out. "I know you're not used to teams, but honestly, K. If you're half as good on a team as you are solo, then I think a lot of these guys will need to work to catch up to you."

"You're kind to say it, but ... "

"But nothing. If you don't want to listen to me about it, then I'll just go right ahead and project to you everything from  _their_ points of view," Jean said, which did get K to put both hands up and take a step back.

"Are you trying to make me cry?"

"No, but I can."

"Got it. Shut up and go do as the boys say," K said, her chin tipped almost to her chest.

"That's not ... " Jean closed her eyes and let out a sigh. "Tell you what. Go - do a good job and if you still don't want to join up, I'll make sure they drop it - but you have to give it an honest try."

K nodded and gestured for Jean to lead the way, more nervous than she cared to admit to being. It was one thing to fight any of these guys to get away … and an entirely different proposition to show them what she knew so they could find ways to stop  _her_. Or worse.

But … K already knew that bringing up the fact that she didn't trust  _them_ wasn't really going to do anyone any favors. So against her better judgement - and in a suit that she felt was tight enough to outline her birthmarks - K finally stepped into the Danger Room proper to find her soon to be opponents waiting for her - all lined up. Steve, Logan, and as promised - Thor.

Steve gave her an easy sort of smile as the doors closed behind her and she flinched at the echoing sound, shrinking in on herself slightly. Her shoulders rounded forward and her hands clenched at her sides, though neither Steve nor Logan missed the fact that otherwise, her entire body more or less went almost to attention - right down to her ankles tightly together. It was clear she was dreading every bit of this.

"We shouldn't do this," Logan said quietly to Steve as Scott began giving K the rundown of what was expected. "It's too soon. She's not ready."

"Logan, if we wait for her to trust us, you'll be old and gray," Steve replied with a dry look, though Logan clearly wasn't amused.

"It's too formal," he said. "We're not gonna get a good read on her. Either she'll shut down or she'll panic. Either way …"

"We still have to try," Steve said, cutting him off. "Everyone wants her on their team without knowing what her capabilities are outside of saving every one of us in some capacity or another. And you and I both know that's not enough on its face."

"Then don't try to put her on a team yet," Logan said as the two of them drifted further away from where K was staring straight ahead and nodding from time to time. "Look at her, Cap," Logan said, gesturing at the way K was standing and quietly taking in the run down. "She's not fit for it. Not in a place like this. She's too fresh offa Weapon X.  _Way_ too fresh offa Magneto."

"And she still agreed," Steve pointed out. "She's tough. Tougher than I thought she was, and I gotta tell you. I'm looking forward to the fight with you."

"Yeah, well. Long as she don't try to kill me, it'll be fine an' dandy I'm sure."

Steve smirked. "I'll warm her up for you then."

When the two old friends turned back, it was to see that while they were chatting, Thor had taken it on himself to try and ease her mind a bit - and it was clearly doing something as the two of them were going back in forth in rapid-fire Swedish.

Tony and Scott were both looking amused, and Logan took a moment to read Stark's lips - apparently, the program he'd come up with to autotranslate Swedish for his  _own_ uses wasn't fast enough to keep up with two fluent speakers. And by the time Thor had rested his hand on K's shoulder - and gotten an almost shy smile out of her, Tony didn't exactly look pleased.

"Please stop flirting with the Norse God," Tony said over the speaker - which had Thor bursting out laughing.

"But I can't help it," K replied with a crooked smirk, sounding almost innocent with the thick accent, though it was clear she wasn't  _really_ flirting with Thor by the way that she was  _looking_ at Tony.

"If you're done," Steve said. "We should get to work."

K let out a breath, clearly disappointed that her little gamble to buy more time hadn't worked, and instead, she turned toward Steve with a tight smile. "Fine. Who's first?"


	42. Evaluation Time!

For the very start of the evaluation with Steve, K simply didn't move. She honestly didn't like the idea of fighting Captain America one on one, let alone when she knew that there were several  _other_ brilliant tactical minds watching over the whole fiasco as well. She  _knew_ that they weren't lying to her - they actually wanted an evaluation for their little teams … but something about the tall steel walls … the glass that allowed them to watch her from above … the utter feeling of being trapped in their 'danger room' ….

All of it had K convinced that this was simply a means of finding out how to best tear her apart. And it would have been idiotic to  _show them_ how to do it. Of course … she also wasn't about to just let them railroad her either. When Steve finally realized she wasn't about to attack him, he took a quick run at her to try and get her to engage, though … that didn't work out well either as K simply made it her priority to dodge him and dance around him avoiding actually fighting him.

And as Steve's frustration levels rose, K's panic did as well. The further they got into their evaluation, the more she was holding her breath and simply trying to keep out of his way.

"Come on," Steve said, still smiling but clearly losing his good humor. "You said you'd fight, so … hit me. I know you can do better than this."

K glanced up at him with her lips parted, clearly reluctant. "I … I don't think I can," K managed to get out, though she still kept her distance.

"Now I  _know_ that's not right," Steve said, finally slowing with a frown setting deeper and deeper on his features. "We just want to know where you'd fit in best, K."

As soon as his shoulders dropped, K straightened up and ran her hand over her hair, setting the loose strands back into place. "I just don't know … about any of this."

Steve's entire expression shifted as he seemed to really take in how tense she was. "Would it be easier if you weren't fighting one of us? At least to start with."

K glanced around at the group at large, already shaking her head slowly, her indecision clearly showing. "I don't know."

"Take a break," Tony called down from the booth. "Step out of the room for a minute, honey."

K looked up to see Tony already moving, and nodded to herself. As Steve took a step toward her, she moved back from him - maintaining a clear space between them before she made a rush for the door, where Tony was waiting to catch her. He wrapped her up in an embrace, and cradled her head in both of his hands before he kissed her forehead and pulled her closer. "What gives? You and I both know you could take him  _down_  if you put your mind to it." He dipped his head down to catch her gaze. "And I gotta tell you- I really didn't see the shrinking violet thing from you."

K gave him a dry look. "That's not what this is."

"You sure? I mean … I'm sure you could make it work if you really wanted to…"

"Tony." K looked entirely unamused.

"Then tell me what's going on. Really. Because I  _know_ you haven't even touched the tip of the iceberg yet." He was smirking at her in a way that  _always_ meant trouble. "Don't even go all out. Just … show 'em enough to make sure they don't push you for more … then tell me later how much you were holding back."

"I don't want to fight with Avengers. Even as an evaluation."

"I know. You got a soft spot for us. Some more than others …"

K shoved him back half a step with a smirk. "For a smart guy, you're an idiot."

"Can't help it," Tony replied without missing a beat. "But … now that you grudgingly agreed to do the evaluation …"

K closed her eyes and made a point to steal a fairly chaste kiss. "I'm not making any promises."

"On this, you mean," Tony countered with a grin as he turned to head back to the booth. "Give 'em what-for, sweetheart."

* * *

Meanwhile though … the scene  _inside_ the Danger Room and the booth was entirely different. Scott and Steve were arguing on what could or should have been done to get her to fight - and both of them seemed to be missing the point.

"This isn't because I'm an Avenger," Steve said. "I'm telling you - she fought me just fine when she was on her way out of the tower. Maybe she just needs to have it be a pressing matter."

"Or … maybe we need to just change up the scenery," Scott said with a frown. "I still think it's the Avengers thing, but … it might also be that the places they used for training with Weapon X could sometimes be a lot like this." When Steve frowned at that, Scott blew out a breath and explained quickly. "I've seen their security footage from time to time. They used rooms kind of like this."

"Then… set something up," Steve said, gesturing wildly. "I'm not going to push her to fight me today. Not with how easy she was ducking me."

Scott paused as he thought about it, looking between Logan and Thor as he weighed it out. "She got along well enough with Thor," he said before he pointedly turned toward Thor, who seemed to have been irritating Logan in whatever they were discussing. "Do you mind working with her? We already know the two of you hit it off."

"Of course," Thor said, smiling a little wider - it seemed like he was almost always smiling - "I think you'll find that I'm not the only one she's kind to."

"Right. Well … I'm just working with who and what I've got," Scott said almost dully as the doors in the booth opened up and Tony came back - even more bright eyed than before.

"Ready when you are, Cyclops," Tony said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. "Who's our first victim?"

" _Her_ first sparring partner will be Thor," Scott said before he covered the mic - even though it was turned off. "If we can get a decent showing without getting Logan involved, I think we'll all be better off."

"I'm tellin' you," Logan said, his hands on his hips as he looked up at his teammates. "You're pushin' her too hard."

"Considering how we've seen her fightin the past, I highly doubt that," Scott said. "We're not putting her in danger, we're just asking her to stretch. Besides -"

Logan let out an irritated sounding growl and turned away while Scott was talking, which of course had Scott  _more_ irritated too.

" - she  _agreed_ to this," Scott said in a much more stern tone.

Logan was grumbling to himself as he paced. He  _knew_ this was a bad idea. And he  _knew_ that Scott was missing it for the same reasons that Tony was missing it. They  _wanted_ to see another feral in action. They wanted to compare notes and see how far she could push it. And he was pretty sure Scott wanted to see her go all out again like she did at that Weapon X facility. But … they didn't seem to understand that wasn't something that just happened as a  _choice_. To be that far gone … Logan knew she'd have to panic and go over the line to give them what they were after , and obviously they didn't realize how  _hard_ it was to go that far or the aftermath of what they went through …

He frowned to himself as he thought of it. Of  _course_ they didn't know. Who would have told them? Logan sure as hell hadn't and K didn't trust them enough to even consider telling them about the drawbacks.  _Logan_ hadn't. Why would she?

Before he could decide how to handle it, the doors opened and K stepped back in, looking a little bit bolstered, but still not ready to do what the others were asking her. As Logan started to walk toward her - ready to tell her she could tell them to stuff it - Thor got there first and dropped a heavy hand on her shoulder as he walked with her.

"I've always enjoyed working alongside warrior women," Thor said with a bright and friendly smile. "And I am the only one here who has not fought against you, I believe."

"That's true," K said, frowning to herself as she saw the angle that they were trying for. "But I don't want to fight the God of Thunder either." She looked up at the booth. "I'm Scandinavian. I'm pretty sure there is some kind of Nordic bylaw that says I'm not  _allowed_ to fight one of the old Gods."

"Then it's a good thing you're not fighting him, sweetheart," Tony called down. "We want you to fight  _with_ him. Run a simulation or two … what do you want to fight?"

"I … have no ideas," K said, looking more than a bit confused by this turn of events.

"Then do a simulation for me - and we'll see if our new friend can assist an Asgardian," Thor said brightly.

"Frost giants it is," Tony said, which only got a more incredulous look from K as Thor chuckled and began speaking to her in Swedish - and of course, no one else got what they were saying from there on out.

But … they did get a little more of an evaluation.

The landscape shifted to ice and driving snow, but that only had Thor grinning widely as he pulled K along with him toward where the frost giants should be … though they were ambushed before they got to their destination and after the clear shock of it - K dove in with Thor … she fought fairly well, though she was having some severe trouble figuring out how and where to hit them when they weren't giving off any scents - and she had nothing to track them by once they disappeared into the snow - only to reappear at some other spot.

She quickly figured out that there wasn't anywhere solidly safe to hide, unless it was right next to Thor - but he was pushing to get into the action, so her options were slim. She pressed onward, grimly deciding to do what was needed to keep up. And she was doing well enough that Thor was laughing in the heat of battle. But K couldn't see the end game as it was.

From her vantage point - it was endless frost giants coming at them. She took a moment to watch … trying to see where the end of them was when one of the frost giants tried to scoop her up, she twisted to cut his arm off then grabbed a hold of the nearest possible thing of any help - and a moment later, Thor let out a shout as K climbed his back using his ponytail as leverage.

He was outraged and angry at first until she settled in on his shoulders, holding onto his hair for balance. "Can you get me up to that spire?" K asked, which only had Thor laughing harder before he took a hold of her knee to keep her from falling - and flew the both of them to the spire she'd pointed out.

"See? Good instincts," Tony said in the booth, gesturing to the scene as it played out below.

"Thor's doing most of it," Steve argued. "She's … directing traffic."

"Which is a smart move, all things considered," Tony argued.

"Not what we're trying to do," Steve said in a sigh.

"Are you sure? Because not everyone needs to be in the field - in the fight throwing down with mythical mosnters."

"We've been telling  _you_ that for years, Tony," Steve deadpanned - earning a dry look from Tony as Natasha smirked.

"We already knew she was quick on her feet." Natasha was shaking her head at how well K and Thor were fighting together - and how different her fighting style was from anyone else they had on the team. "Cap can tell us more about that, right, Steve? I mean … quick hands …"

Steve gave her a dry look, but Clint burst out laughing as the sim ended.

"She's all warmed up anyhow," Scott said before he turned to Logan. "You're up."

Logan growled at that, but got up all the same to head in for his turn with the new girl. Of course, by the time he was face to face with her after the joking around she'd been doing with Thor, Logan honestly didn't  _want_ to fight her.

The sharp tang of anxiety was still surrounding her, but when she was  _smiling_ genuinely like she was as Thor relieved their short sim … all Logan could see was their time in Japan. And the sheer drive to get away when they'd had her captured the first time. He couldn't help but smirk when he thought of how  _viciously_ she'd corrected Sabretooth on his lack of respect for her personal space. "You gonna be okay with this?" Logan asked as she drew in a breath and ran her hand across her stomach - clearly a tic since there wasn't a damn thing wrong with her uniform.

"They won't stop until I do this, right?" K asked quietly enough that the mics missed it.

"It can wait," Logan replied just as quietly, but K let her breath out in a woosh.

"I'll let you know if I can't handle it," she said before she took a moment to re-situate her pony tail.

Logan nodded at that and stepped back to give her a little space, though when the scene shifted and the two of them got started, it was a lot quicker moving than K had anticipated - and Logan was trying to end the fight fast.

He moved in quick to get a hold of her hands, if nothing else than simply to stop her from taking a swing at him, and K fought him to keep her defenses, scrambling backward to avoid him, but of course, Logan just wasn't going to let that happen. Her back hit the wall and a moment later, she kicked off the wall going for a full attack. Only … he  _noticed_ that the fury wasn't quite there in her eyes.

She hit him hard - and like he had done, she wasn't trying to stretch it out. End it and end it quick. That was what both of them were trying to do. Her fist made contact with his throat - and he deflected her hand an instant before the claws came out - barely doing the same for the fist she'd aimed at his heart, too.

He was going to point out that it was non-lethal, but the look of near panic in her eyes had him shifting tactics. Logan was right. She wasn't anywhere near ready - and to face someone that she knew had taken her down before … K spun on one foot - her other foot already aimed at his head. The move was sloppy and clearly a desperate attempt to just … knock him out cold, so when Logan dodged it, he took advantage of the fact that the miss had left her wide open. He darted toward her and wrapped his arm around her middle as he took her to the ground - knocking the wind out of her. He tried to keep her from bashing her head against the floor, though as soon as the first bounce was averted, he shifted to grab her wrists and pin her.

"Not gonna hurt you," Logan reminded her as she near- hyperventilated. "Just breathe a little and I'll let go."

She caught his gaze and did her best to catch her breath as well, and though Logan thought she was going to tap out, K was a little too deep in her panic to do that and the instant Logan let his shoulders relax even a touch, she did all she could to bend herself in half and hook an ankle around his neck.

Clearly, he wasn't expecting it - nor was he expecting it when she dove at him to try and incapacitate  _him_ in return. She caught him while he was on his back, but she couldn't keep him down - simply outclassed in strength, and the fact that his hands were much bigger than hers.

Before it was really deep into it, the wrestling match was over with Logan half wrapped around her from behind - arms and legs to keep her from fighting him. He had his chin hooked over her shoulder and he was pressing his head against hers to keep her from bashing him. And he  _knew_ she was triggered. He took a long while whispering in her ear to calm down and to breathe while those up in the booth tried to figure out what exactly was even going on down there.

K was trembling as she tried to get loose. Logan had her arms crossed in front of her and he had a hold of both wrists in the bear hug he was clearly not letting her out of any time soon. She couldn't kick at him for how he had his legs locked around her knees, and the total lock down was enough to have her simply  _struggling_  even if she wasn't making a bit of headway.

However … in the booth, with all the chaos at the extremely fast paced fight that had come to an abrupt standstill Jean was on her feet frowning at the scene below. "Logan was right," she said in a deep sort of tone. "This was too early. She's not ready for a proper evaluation."

At Jean's word, the simulation died down and the men in the booth all headed for the Danger Room below - and Jean peeked into K's mind barely late enough to 'hear' it as K finally relaxed for Logan.

It was a combination of his quiet persistence, his scent, and the fact that he was honestly holding her as gently but firmly as possible as he rumbled incredibly low to her where she was and that she was safe over and over again until she did, finally let out a breath and all but melted into him.

And Jean was there - present in both of their minds just in time to catch not only K's honest relief, but her mental smile at his scent - and  _his_ little swell of pleasure that she  _trusted him_ on some level.

By the time the rest of the teams had gotten to the door of the Danger Room - the worst was past and Logan was gently brinigng her back into the present. "You gonna be okay now?" he asked quietly.

"I think so," K agreed, still settled in - though if she was being totally honest, the whole fiasco had worn her out pretty badly. "I'm not going to try and stab you again."

"That's good to know," Logan said with a smile in his tone before he gave her a light squeeze and let her arms go - then took his leg off of her. He couldn't hide the smirk when she didn't immediately jump up though by the time Tony, Steve, and Scott came in with Clint - both of them were getting to their feet.

"I think I've had enough today," K said as the men watched her warily. "I told you I wasn't up for an evaluation."

"We kind of got one anyhow," Steve said. "But … we'll wait to ask you for more."

K gave him a tight smile for that. "Yeah, I'll be waiting." She'd only taken a few steps before she'd gotten caught up by Tony - who was grinning at her.

"Come on - you look like you could use a little help getting out of that uniform, and I would like to volunteer …"

"I'll bet you would," she said, shaking her head at him, though it was kind of hard to get mad at him when he was being so cheerfully adorable. "I'm a sweaty mess."

"When has that ever been a deterrent?" Tony teased as he put his arm around her shoulders and K couldn't help but smirk at him as they headed off.

* * *

Of course, while K was doing the evaluation, obviously none of the younger crowd needed to see what she was up to. It was an easy deflection for most of them - either to do ballet with Natasha and Clint or to play outside with Thor, who was turning out to be the kids' new favorite babysitter, especially when Teddy had told them all that he was good at playing freeze tag.

But as soon as ballet was over, Katie wanted to go find her mom and tell her all about her day and how much fun she'd had - and that was the perfect opportunity for Jan to sweep in and steal the little girl away for herself for a while, with promises of playing dress up and eating ice cream.

Katie giggled and obliged, and it wasn't long at all before Jan had her in some sweet little purple outfits as they snacked on chocolate fudge sundaes and Katie told her all about how much fun she had with Natasha and " _my Clint_ ," which was her name for Clint and she absolutely refused to drop it.

"And  _Natasha_ keeps telling Paige that she's not getting married but  _I_ think she  _waaaaants_ to," Katie sang to Jan as she swirled her fudge around her ice cream.

"Is that the  _only_ person that really wants to?" Jan asked with a little laugh since, clearly, Katie was pretty darned observant.

"Well, Scott already asked,  _duh_ ," Katie giggled.

"Actually," Jan said, leaning toward her. "Jean asked  _him_."

Katie giggled. "Well,  _Billy_ says she didn't ask, she just telled him, and then Scott asked her like she wanted him to," she said, leaning in to match Jan.

"I still say it counts for Jean," Jan said with a grin.

"O-kay," Katie said with a shrug. "I think it counts double." She popped another bite into her mouth and then grinned at Jan. "I think maybe Natasha will do that. She'll tell my Clint to ask her and he will because he  _lo-o-o-o-ves_ her."

"I think Natasha will just inform your Clint that they're getting married and he'll break his face smiling."

"Uh-huh," Katie said. She tipped her head to the side as she seemed to be considering something before she asked, "D'you think they'll 'dopt Paige and her brothers when they get married or d'you think they can't wait that long 'cause they like 'em a  _lot_."

"Well I think if they let the little kids pick, it'll happen at about the same time," Jan said before she reached over to boop Katie on the nose. "What about you?"

Katie scrunched her nose. "Well, I  _guess_ if Tony marries my mom I'll let him 'dopt me. I  _guess_."

"Do you think that's a thing?" Jan asked, resting her chin in her hand.

Katie nodded. "Uh-huh," she said seriously. "They're together a  _lot_ and all they wanna do is kiss and Tony plays with me lots so I think he's tryna try bein' a dad like sometimes my dad's girlfriends tried bein' moms."

Jan couldn't help but be a little surprised at Katie's response. "Yeah? How's he doing with that?"

Katie shrugged. "He's okay, I guess. He has more fun with Peter, though, and I like my Clint better." She paused. "Ooh,  _and_ Logan because he's funny and he let me ride his bike with him!"

Jan grinned at that. "Tony doesn't always know how to react to people, but I guess if he's not annoying you, it's good that he's  _trying._ " She said the last word as if it was a chore, just to get a smile out of Katie.

And of course, Katie started to giggle. "Yeah, well, I know you an' Tony are friends so maybe you can help him because  _everybody_ likes you!"

"Of course they do!" Jan said, grinning at her. "They have no choice when I'm  _so good._ "

"Uh huh!" Katie giggled. "And you remember everyone's favorite colors and stuff like that. That's re-e-e-e-ally important!"

"It really, really is," Jan agreed before leaning closer. "And you know … if your Mom decides to be an Avenger - like … really  _really_ joins the team? I'd like to have something made up for her that's her favorite colors too. Can you help me with that?"

Katie nodded. "Uh-huh," she said. "I know she likes purple 'cause it's the  _best_ but I think she likes blue a lot too."

"I like blue, too," Jan said. "Though I think if we put her in purple, Hawkeye would never,  _ever_ stop saying she wants to be like him."

"Yeah," Katie said, her lower lip pushed out. "Plus,  _I_ wanna be a Hawkeye. My Clint said I could take over for him when he gets  _super old_. Like - like - eight hundred!"

"Yeah, but if you're on the team at the same time, you can still kinda match him," she suggested. "Just prettier. And generally cooler."

"Okay!" Katie said with a grin. "And - and you gotta put a 'K' on my mom's uniform because that's her codename and she picked it just for  _me_!"

"She did?" Jan asked, blinking a few times. That … wasn't even something she'd considered. "How did she get that?"

Katie grinned. "Yeah, silly. K for Katie!" she said. "Duh! It's 'cause she missed me lots while she was gone, just like I missed her!"

At that, Jan melted. Not just because the sentiment was so sweet, but because any questions she had on Katie's other family members really didn't matter anymore. Even if she  _had_ only known K for a few weeks or so, the little girl had her own mental history of how it was, and Jan wasn't any more willing than anyone else to screw that up. "Of course she did." Jan shook her head and then tapped her forehead with one hand. "How did I miss it?"

"It's 'cause you don't got a K name," Kate said, nodding seriously. "It's okay. J is almost as cool."

"It's super cool," Jan agreed before the two of them finished up their ice cream and started planning out what to do  _next._ But … enough time had passed that before they could get too far, Clint zipped up behind her and picked Katie up and set her on his shoulders with a grin.

"Miss me, troublemaker?" Clint asked.

Katie giggled delightedly and held onto his shoulders. "Uh huh! But it's okay 'cause I had Aunt Jan so I almost forgot to miss you!"

"Well you two  _really_ missed the show," Clint laughed. "Your mom decided to climb Thor using his pony tail for a rope."

"That's silly!" Katie giggled delightedly.

"He wasn't too happy about it, but yeah … it was pretty silly."

"Well, yeah, 'cause it hurts when someone pulls your hair," Katie said. "Josh pulled my hair on accident 'cause he's a baby and I  _cried_."

"Not to mention all that metal," Clint laughed. "He had a good sense of humor from it though."

"That's good because my mom always says you gotta smile."

"I thought she liked to growl," Clint teased before he tickled her sides.

Katie gasped and tried to wriggle away. "No tickling! No tickling!"

Clint picked her up off his shoulder and tossed her into the air before he caught her and set her down. "Okay. No tickling. For now."

Katie giggled and then darted over to hug Clint around the knees. "Paige is really lucky she picked Natasha because you're a good big brother and a good dad," she told him, perfectly matter-of-fact about it.

"Well… thank you," Clint said, nodding in an exaggerated manner, doing his best falsely dignified expression.

"You're still gonna teach me to be Hawkeye, though, right?" she said, pointing one finger up at him with the other hand on her hip. "You  _said_!"

"Um -  _yes_ , yes I will," Clint said, matching her stance. "Though I think your Mom could use a hug. She totally blew away our testers." He turned to Jan and whispered. "She kept up with Logan."

"Yeah, duh, because she's  _awesome_ ," Katie said, though now that she'd established that, she simply flounced off to go find K.


	43. What Do You Do With Her Now?

"She should join the X-Men," Scott said once the evaluation was all said and done. "We have the back up she needs psychologically and with Logan, we've got experience with someone that has similar issues to what she's dealing with - not just experience-wise, either."

"Are you really using Wolverine's mental state as a positive in your favor?" Tony asked, arms crossed.

"Better than using the team as an excuse when at least half the reason you want her is for personal reasons," Scott shot back without missing a beat.

"Did you just accuse me of wanting my girlfriend close by for easy access?" Tony said, looking blown away that Scott would take that route.

"Not what he said, but if the shoe fits …" Logan said, letting the statement fall.

Tony bristled at that, but didn't dignify a response - to Logan anyhow. "You're ignoring one pretty simple fact - she kept going to us to warn us."

"Because we didn't need the warning," Logan argued. "We'd been fightin' with Magneto from the beginning. You were the ones with blinders on."

"And one could argue that you don't know when to ask for help when you're in over your head."

Before another word could be spoken, Scott had stepped between Logan and Tony - as a courtesy. "You don't really want to start up an argument like that, Stark," Scott said, though the glow to his visor was a little brighter than it had been before.

"He's right," Steve said, which was enough to both bolster Scott and get him to ease up slightly. "Both groups have benefits - and I'm not counting Tony as one of them." His tone was perfectly dry as he gave Tony a sidelong glance - and the debate started up freshly.

The men were getting heated again, and Logan was honestly ticked off at how stupid they were acting … so of course, he took matters into his own hands and left the group without a word or any warning. "Idiots are goin' about it all the wrong damn way …" Logan grumbled to himself as he stalked down the hall - well away from the ready room, past the gathered women in the kitchen, even if half of them or better watched him go by with a frown - and down the hall to where he was very sure K was swamped with little kids.

When he stopped at the open door, they were positively swarmed around her - Kurt was of course tucked under one arm and leaning against her - reading the story for the younger kids as K held the book. Katie was on K's lap, and Kitty was on the other side of her, reaching over to turn the pages. The Guthries and Peter were a little more reasonable - sitting behind her on the couch, or in Peter's case, sitting on the wall where he could get a better view. Jubilee was leaning over K's shoulder - almost to the point of falling onto Katie - though Katie kept turning her head to either smile up at K or to boop Jubilee in the nose - which would probably explain why they weren't far into the book yet.

Logan took a breath and leaned in the doorway, his arms crossed as he watched the group for a long moment. And as soon as it got to a break in the story, he cleared his throat.

"Not yet, we are reading," Kurt said, giving Logan a stern sort of look before he nestled back into K.

"Just gonna take a second," Logan said, walking into the room. The kids all looked like they were waiting for something to happen as Logan took a seat. "Buncha idiots are tryin' to run the world right now."

"Color me shocked," K said - and Katie let out a noise of longsuffering.

"Shocked isn'ta color, mom!" Katie said, then tipped her head back so K could kiss her forehead, falling apart into giggled and snuggling into her - close enough to boop Kurt on the nose.

Logan shook his head again at the commentary. "They're trying to decide which team you need to be on."

"Tha's simple! She's gonna be a Nevenger!" Katie said, and Peter looked as if he approved of that path as well by the way he was nodding.

"Lacherlich!" Kurt replied, clearly insulted as he drew himself up. "She's a mutant like us … she should be an X-Man!"

"But she's a lady," Katie said, rolling her eyes at him.

Again, Logan cleared his throat, and all the kids fell silent in their little arguments. "I'm sick of listenin' to the arguin'. And it should be your choice anyhow," Logan said. "They both want you so make your pick. If you even want to join up."

"Wow," K said, honestly looking shocked. "Who sent you?"

"No one," Logan replied, frowning slightly at her insinuation. "None of 'em were askin' and I got ticked off because of it."

"Can you kids keep going without me for a few minutes?" K asked, sure to rest her hand on Kurt's head and to give Katie a quick hug, too. She left the kids - with Sam stepping in to finish the story since Kurt had a distinctive twitch in his tail and absolutely couldn't concentrate on something so frivolous as a story when important matters such as which team his favorite grown up lady was going to be on. With a shared glance, Kurt and Peter nodded and made to follow the adults - on the ceiling of course - crouched on all fours as they hugged the ceiling - slipping gracefully around light fixtures.

The two ferals stepped into a hornet's nest too, since by the time they returned there were all kinds of accusations flying back and forth - criticisms of both teams that had been overlooked during the war, but now …

"What the hell is wrong with you guys?" K blurted out - stopping all of them in their tracks. "You were getting along great and now? Now you want to act like a bunch of teenage primates? What are you even arguing over?"

Steve let out a sigh and gestured toward her and Logan. "We started out trying to decide which team you should be on, but then … it kind of got onto other matters."

"So you boys all thought you knew what was best for me? Or was this only considering the team?"

"We honestly think you'd be happy on either team," Scott said. "So it had move on to what was best for the teams."

"And … now that really doesn't sound good," Steve said, losing his steam as he realized how bad it had sounded. "So. I guess we should ask - which team would you prefer?"

"What difference does it make while you're both working under one roof?" K asked, crossing her arms. "Aren't you going to be going on the same runs together anyhow?"

Tony and Steve shared a look as Scott smirked at Logan - who was being very careful not to give anything away. "Well … yeah, we're all mingling now …"

"Then … I'm not picking," K said, giving each of them a little look before she turned and caught Logan's gaze. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Logan smirked and K raised an eyebrow at him before she simply went back to the kids - though she didn't get more than a few doors down before she caught a familiar scent and had to stop. She didn't turn her head toward where she knew the two boys were hiding, but she also couldn't let it pass. Not when they were obviously sticking thier little noses where they did not belong. "Kurt. Peter. Why are you spying?"

A moment later, both of them came out, and she turned to watch them as they climbed down the walls looking very very proud. "We were curious on which team you were going to choose," Kurt said, his chin tipped up.

K reached over to run a hand through his curls before she shook her head lightly. "Sweetheart - nothing says I have to join a team at all."

"But you're a hero," he argued with all the fire of a little boy convinced he was right.

"I didn't say I wasn't going to help," K said. "I just haven't decided if I should be a regular part of anything. That's all."

"But … "

"It's not solid," K said. "Nothing is solid. They're just fighting over me like a shiny new toy."

"That's because so many of them think you're pretty," Kurt said with a trouble making smirk on his face.

"I'm pretty sure Tony only counts as one," K said, but Peter was the one to speak up.

"Um … he's not … nevermind."

"What? He doesn't think I'm pretty?" K said, pulling him over to tickle him. "Because I know when people lie, and he hasn't lied about that."

"No!" Peter laughed, gasping for air as she switched from tickles to kisses - sure to leave lip prints on his cheek with her lipstick. "NO! I mean more than him thinks so." He pulled back, wiping the tears from his eyes as he darted up the wall.

"Who?" K asked, frowning. She knew Logan hadn't stopped watching her like that, and damned if she hadn't noticed that. But another one? No.

"I can't say!" he said, looking perfectly scandalized. "You aren't supposed to know that much! You're with my d- Tony."

"But if they get married, you'll have to tell her everything!" Kurt challenged, but that had K snatching him up to tickle him senseless.

"Okay … you can stop that," she said as he squirmed and laughed loudly. "The only ones talking about weddings are you kids. So unless you're announcing that you're marrying Kitty - or … Paige-"

"No!" both of them shouted in unison.

"Then … stop," K said. "Please. I just got here."

"So … that means you want to stay?" Kurt said, grinning already.

"Unless you're all intent on marrying me off," K said, but both boys were quick to deny that as they headed back to the story group - where they found the others settled around Vision, though he wasn't quite as successful at storytime with the whole group. His boys and Teddy had joined the group, but the focus from the kids was firmly on Vision … not … the Baba Yaga story he was trying to tell.

K stood in the door as the boys zipped over to join the group again. She didn't get to watch for too long though before she felt someone stepping up behind her. Tony's hand was at her waist an instant before he leaned forward to kiss her behind the ear. "Sorry for how things got … lost. In there. We really should have just come to you first."

"You'll make it up to me later," K said, leaning back as she tipped her head up at him - making stealing a kiss that much easier for him. Of course, she wasn't quite expecting him to pull her back from the crowd, though she wasn't going to argue it. Not when time alone was at an extreme premium.

Tony pulled her into an empty classroom, flipping the lock on the door once they were inside. "See? I learned," he teased, which got a laugh, and a little more involved kiss, though as they got more into things … the light in the room seemed to disappear slowly even though it was still the middle of the day. They both turned to look out the window to see that the skies were bubbling up red-black clouds. "Your stalker's back."

"Such crap timing."

"There's probably a reason for that," Tony said, frowning, though it certainly had broken up their moment as well. "It's a little unsettling knowing what he's after - ultimately."

"Try it from my side, lover-boy."

"Yeah … I've been trying to figure out how to get rid of him for you," Tony said as they settled in to watch the show. It was mostly just lights and smoke - literally - but the level of hissy fit was one that couldn't be missed by the others, either. And as had been promised, Doc Strange had made an appearance as soon as he was called, which left Tony in the odd position of simply watching the show. "Don't really understand how magic works though, so marrying it to some tech … well …"

"Come on, handsome, you wouldn't really want to do that anyhow."

"Want to, no. Of course not. But ... "

K turned her head to watch him as outside the fight started to intensify. "Don't … don't do that."

"What?"

"Say things like … I think we need to reevaluate things," K said, trying to shift tracks. "You've moved beyond 'light and fun'."

Tony let out a little breath even as he tipped his chin up, watching her reactions. "Yes. I have. But it's a good thing. I like where this is going." He was smirking by the time he'd finished talking, and had been very careful to gently pull her closer by her waist. "Is that a problem?"

K blinked up at him for a moment and was shaking her head before she could answer. "Well … no. It's not .. a problem." She arched one eyebrow high as he leaned in to steal a little kiss.

"So … as long as it's mutual," Tony said, pausing for just a moment as he waited for her response - and breaking into a wide grin when K smiled and tipped her head, shrugging one shoulder slightly.

"I'm pretty attached, yeah," K admitted, earning herself a delighted sort of laugh out of him as they got back to the matter at hand.

It seemed like the brief respite the teams had enjoyed to regroup and gather their thoughts after Avalon had fallen was short lived. With two demon appearances - growing in severity, Doctor Strange had been forced to put more serious defenses up at their hideout just to keep the forces of hell out. Though he'd been sure to give K and Tony both a hard glare when he was done. "Stop. Taunting the demon," he warned.

"I … am just living," K defended.

"He sees it slightly differently," Strange replied. "I can try to put some layers of protection around you but the fact of the matter is that the deal has already been made and I don't know how effective it would be. As it stands, the only reason my spells work to keep you safe now is because you're in the middle of all the others."

"Then … maybe we need to create a spell to protect her as long as she's with on of us," Wanda suggested.

"The chances of that working are-"

"Irrelevant if I'm helping you," Wanda replied with a little smirk. "We can make it happen without breaking any of the laws of magic."

Strange blinked at her a few times, his cape gently rippling behind him before finally, he nodded. "Then gather up your teams and we'll cast something that will hopefully keep the demon at bay."

After Strange worked his spell on the group at large, it was almost as if Azazel had simply found something better to do, though they all knew better than to believe that. Things were fairly quiet until weeks later the reports coming in showed that Erik had somehow survived the fall of Avalon and had returned to his ill-gained tower in New York.

Which, understandably, wasn't something they could ignore or put off looking into. At all.

The combined group of heroes were all prepping to go, and at first, K simply stood back as they headed off to suit up - until of course, Steve put in his two cents. "What are you doing? Get dressed. We're all going for this."

"I am very sure that you told me to park it because of a demon," K replied. "Make up your mind."

"I also said it was an all hands on deck situation."

"I didn't know you were Navy," K shot back, which at least got a snort out of Clint.

"Gee, Cap, they've been telling your history all wrong," Clint snickered.

Steve gave them both a dry look, but didn't lose his focus. "Get moving. We're all going. Besides - if you're going to have a big impact on Magneto's followers, you need to show up. Doctor Strange is going to meet us there just in case, but he didn't cast that spell on all of us just so you could hide. You're covered."

"Why doesn't he just … I dunno. Magic them all into their underwear. Most of them would go running for cover," K grumbled as she headed off for her new uniform all the same.

When she returned, most of the team was ready, though there were a few stragglers - and Vision was there to give K a warm hug when she did come to join the group. "I'm glad you're here," he said.

"I missed you too," she replied, leaning on him slightly.

"It's nice to have family on the team," Vision said with a nod. "Wanda has her sibling." He smirked. "And I have mine."

"You got the better end of the deal," K said. "But I still think this is a mistake."

Vision shook his head at that. "No, I agree with the captain," he said resting his hand on her arm as she held on to his. "You were a true rallying cry for Magneto, and you did not want to be. Why not turn the tables?"

"All I did was stand there and scowl. I doubt the same thing will work."

"No." Vision shook his head. "No, you stood there and scowled after you had already given Magneto what he needed. Before that, you made it clear that abusers and those who would oppress the weak were not tolerated. At least by you. Surely you know that helped sway several people."

At that, K smiled up at him fondly. "You always have the best perspective of everyone."

Vision smiled at that and gave her a brief hug. "I'm glad to offer it." He gave her a smirk. "It's in my programming."

"Mine too, my dear brother."

The whole interaction didn't go unnoticed, of course, and Clint leaned over to Natasha with a smirk. "Turns out all Vision needed to upgrade his sense of humor was to get stranded in space with K and two small boys."

Natasha rolled her eyes at that and swatted his arm. "Focus."

"I am focusing," Clint said. "I'm watching out for our rookie and our newly-returned teammates. That's a good focus to have!"

"She has Steve and Doctor Strange watching her like a hawk," Natasha said with a raised eyebrow just to watch his reaction.

"Exactly. My schtick."

"They're not the only ones either," Natasha said. "And I'd like to see some of the team paying attention to the task at hand."

"C'mon, Nat. You know I can multitask. I've been spending all my time flirting with you and running missions and haven't died!"

"Yet," she said, smirking a little more crookedly.

Clint grinned and then leaned over to kiss her cheek. "Relax, Nat. You know I'll keep my head in the game when we get to the Tower of Magnetism."

Natasha simply shook her head at that, but by then, Jan had arrived, so the team headed out together to their old tower - to figure out if Erik really had survived. There was every possibility someone might have snuck him out in the chaos, though Pietro doubted it, considering he was running a lot of it - and there was the problem of whether he was even capable of leading anything in the state Charles Xavier had left him in.

But if it was an imposter, it was also just as important to quash that before it could gain steam and try to piggyback off of Erik's power while it was still recent enough not to have entirely collapsed.

Steve was gathering up his group - and surprising no one, K didn't look the least bit concerned either way on if it was Erik or not. "Should be easy to figure out," she said under her breath. "If he doesn't kill me right off, it's not him."

"That's not exactly my preferred method of identification," Steve said, shaking his head.

"And beyond that, there were a few others in Erik's circle that wanted you dead, so it's not exactly foolproof," Vision pointed out.

"Did the others manipulate metal, sweet brother of mine?" K asked with a little smile. "It's still easy to figure out." She rolled her shoulders. "Either way. I'll do my best to say hello."

"Or," Steve said pointedly, "we all go in together."

"I didn't say I'd be alone," K replied, frowning at him. "I'll keep my hand in your back pocket just so you don't lose me if it makes you feel better."

Clint laughed outright at that. "It's fine, K. Cap just has a thing about suicide missions that he doesn't run."

"Ah. Got it. He's gotta be the center."

Clint laughed and nodded. "Oh yeah. Total drama queen."

But at that, Logan reached over to tap Clint in the center of his chest with the back of his hand. "Knock it off."

"Just a joke," Clint said, shaking his head.

When they got close enough to head out and investigate further, Clint and Logan both peeled off from the group. Clint was off to find a good vantage point and Logan to start getting the lay of the crowd - and a better idea of who was there. Pietro was next to go - though he was also quick to return and report back. "Nice sized crowd. Pretty fired up too. Didn't see the old man, for what it's worth."

"But they think it's him?" Steve asked, just to confirm.

"Oh yeah, they think it's him," Pietro confirmed, then tipped his head. "But … it's not like him to show up this far ahead of a crowd and his inner circle of morons are already . mixed signals."

Steve frowned at that. "We need to confirm it's not a telepath or something else." He went to his radio. "Logan?"

"Nothin' yet," he replied. "Just the usual buncha scumballs."

"Ah, my people," Pietro quipped

"He's talking about us," K whispered to Pietro.

"I know; I feel the love. I really do."

K smirked at that - sharing a little glance with Vision before he too, headed off to do his own version of recon. But all the diminishing group could really do was to head closer to the center of the action. When they got a few blocks closer, it was painfully clear that the crowd gathered was indeed looking for some encouraging words from Erik - already half riled up and looking like they were ready to revolt.

"Do you still want me to stay in your pocket?" K said quietly as the first few hostiles in the crowd seemed to recognize that Steve and his group were there.

"Think you can get close enough for a positive ID?" Steve asked. "I'm starting to wonder - if he was the real Magneto, he'd know you were here, right? Two sources of adamantium that close?"

"He should. Unless Charles gave him a stroke or something," K said.

"That's what I'm wondering," Steve said before he let out a breath. "See if you can ID whoever this is - or at least negatively ID him if it's not him. But stay within sight of someone. Logan's closest - or make sure Clint can see you. I don't want him getting to you again, and I don't want you too far from one of us if Azazel pops up again."

K nodded at that. "I'll do what I can," she said, nodding before she glanced at the remaining group and simply took the most direct route - right into the crowd, though it was still easy enough for everyone to keep an eye on her as the crowd gave her a respectful bit of room - not mobbing her, but quickly closing in the path as she passed them by. As she got closer to the stage that had been set up, the murmurs in the crowd were growing louder. "Not even a tiny tug," K said over the comms as she reached the stage and simply started going up the steps. "Is this close enough for you?"

"Get any closer and you can test his powers firsthand by putting your claws through him," Clint said over the comms.

"That's kind of the idea," K replied.

"See? You're a natural."

She was about to reply with something snarky, but instead, when she found herself backstage a few moments later, she froze and then simply started to growl. "I don't know who that is, but it's not him," she said.

Whoever it was posing as Erik looked almost shocked to see K standing there - and even took a step away before turning toward Pyro. And that had K's attention. She tipped her head to the side and started toward Pyro and his fake-neto.

She was only part way to them when Logan took a hold of her arm and pulled her back from going any closer - his other hand to his earpiece. "Got the scent. Erik's not here. At all. But a familiar pain in the ass shapeshifter is."

"Oh, that's fun," Pietro said in a tone dripping with sarcasm.

K pulled her arm away from Logan and went to the comm. "What do you want me to do? I could give a damn about shapeshifters, but the crowd is going to be trouble."

"Expose her," Steve said. "As soon as they see it's not Erik, it'll be a whole new ballgame."

"Yeah, then it'll be 'keep them from murdering the shapeshifter' which is always fun," Clint put in. "Stop the stampede of angry people."

"We can handle it," Jan promised with a bright smile that they could hear even over the comms.

K and Logan shared a look and without a word between them, they split off - headed toward Mystique on their own paths - and making it a lot harder for Mystique or Pyro to keep track of both of them.

As the Avengers were setting up a perimeter, Logan headed right for the first line of defense - and opened up the fight with Pyro with a loud and resonating crack that was heard even without the microphones nearby.

The crowd went quiet as they watched - waiting to see what exactly was happening backstage, and a moment later, K tumbled out onto the stage - fighting with what looked to be Erik, even if the movements didn't match up with his build at all.

He made a swipe at K that she met by kicking him squarely in the center of the chest, knocking him back across the stage to the horror of the crowd, though the shock of seeing the top two mutants on Erik's line of thought fighting was nothing compared to the backlash when K dove for him and wrapped halfway around the back of him - choking him out until the shapeshifter finally dropped the mirage just short of center stage.

But the fight wasn't over - and the crowd was roaring for blood - demanding that Mystique pay for her deception as Pyro let out a scream that echoed even over the roar of the crowd. A blast of fire mushroomed up from that side of the stage, but that didn't even slow the crowd down at all in their cries for blood.

Mystique twisted partly away from K, at least enough to pull a knife and sink it in a few times, twisting the blade with a sneer before K returned the gesture with a handful of claws and a heavy hit right between the eyes that left Mystique with three seeping holes.

The crowd wasn't waiting to hear more - or to see how it panned out before the riot broke out - and an entire crowd of angry mutants really wasn't something anyone wanted to see. Even when the power sets weren't overly impressive, in masse, it was hard to fight.

"Is anyone opposed to just letting them tear down this thing so we can rebuild it with an 'A' on it instead?" Clint asked over the comms as the crowd started to really get worked up.

"Let's at least try to keep it from turning into a bloodbath, Hawkeye," Steve replied.

"Yeah, okay," Clint said, and a flurry of various arrows followed, most of them placed so that there were a few explosions to keep the lines of people from forming knots that were too unwieldy, anyway.

It didn't take long after Mystique had died center stage that the crowd was torn between cheering and shouting obscenities, but the scales tipped when someone climbed up on the stage to make a run at K - though she had no idea if they were friendly or not. Not until they screamed out for her to step up for the cause.

"Go home," K told him, pushing him back several steps. "There is no cause here. Forget all the stupidity Erik preached and go. Home."

"You can't just give up!" he shot back. "We're finally running things!"

At that, K shook her head. "That was never what I was trying to see happen," K said.

"You were there!" someone else shouted from the crowd.

"Trying to stop people like him - that were pushing those weaker than him around," K replied.

"Yeah, the old man was kind of a tyrant," Pietro put in, zipping over to K's side to put an arm around her shoulders. "I mean, what kind of guy leaves his son on an island he knows is going to get wiped out and then uses that for political gain? Do I look dead to you?"

That, at least, got the crowd the murmur a bit. After all, Erik had played up losing his son. And it was harder to argue against two former followers of Erik's than one.

"Magneto's dead," Pietro said flatly. "Everybody go home."

For a second, there was enough of a pause that Pietro grinned at K, sure the solidarity move had worked - and then the mob rushed the stage, clearly intent on tearing them apart. With a little yelp, Pietro grabbed K and zipped to the other side of the mob, wearing a little scowl. "Oh, come on!"

"Just get out of here," K said. "If they want a fight - I'll give it to them."

"Hey, I can fight too. But I thought that was a pretty good move! Dad could do it!"

"Yeah, I wouldn't be jealous of the ability to whip up a rabid crowd," Clint said.

"Yeah, well, whatever," Pietro said before he simply rushed off to start managing the crowd - mostly by knocking the worst offenders out before they could see him coming.

And K, for her part simply started barreling through people - for the most part, the claws were enough to get them to move away- fast, and for the others, they just … didn't want to start it up. There were still plenty of people trapped in the middle of the crowd that didn't want to fight, and who had taken what they'd said to heart. Of course, there was a moment where K found herself in a tight spot … the crowd had pressed in tightly, and she felt a vice-like grip on one of her hands, holding her arm straight up. An instant later, someone else stepped up and did the same to her free hand as the people around her pressed in. They were pushing her and pulling at her, and more than once, she felt a hand where it should not have been. But that knot of handsy admirers dissipated quickly when Vision made his way over to disperse them with a hot, narrow beam that had them dropping his 'sister' quickly.

"You need to let someone watch your back," Vision said, though she could see the little strain at the corners of his eyes before he turned to blast back a few crazed looking crowd members.

"Thanks, Viz," K called out before she turned back to the fight, a little dazed and dizzy from the experience, but still not ready to leave the fight with her new group. She was halfway to the stage when the crowd parted in front of her - for Logan to tumble forward, and with him, a large knot of hostiles followed, more than happy to fight.

K didn't hesitate to fall into step with him - and though neither of them were talking, they were working almost back to back as they worked through the hostile crowd members. It wasn't even just … fighting either. They were covering each other too. No one was sneaking up on either of them - not without ending up bleeding. And of course, when the opportunity cropped up, Logan simply reached over and slung her over his shoulder to book it out of the hot spot and back toward Steve.

If Steve had seen the frankly amazing interplay between the two of them, though, he didn't give any indication, instead directing the Avengers out of the tower as the riots started to break up on their own simply because of injury count and the fact that nobody wanted to cross either K or Logan when their growls were making the air vibrate around them.


	44. Really, It's Nothing

Once the crowd around the former Avengers tower had more or less dispersed, Clint was already making jokes about how having Logan and K pull the snarls and stabbing routine was a much easier way to clear a room - though Natasha ignored him as she came to stand beside Logan. She didn't say anything at first, but when she did, she turned his way with a quiet, "Logan-"

"Shut up, Tash," Logan said, not even looking her way.

"Don't think I didn't notice-"

"I don't want to hear it." Logan glared at her for a moment then he was sure to simply walk away from her.

Natasha let out a quiet breath and shook her head as she followed him to regroup with the rest of the Avengers. She knew what she'd seen, and she knew that it didn't happen with just anybody… and she knew the defensive posture, tone, and response that went along with it told her that he knew  _exactly_ what it was she suspected.

Logan and K were an  _excellent_ match.

But honestly, that didn't help Natasha much. It was really just .more troublesome since K had appeared to be getting serious with Tony Stark. At least … Tony was getting serious about her, and as far as Natasha could see … K wasn't  _stopping_ him, or really even slowing him down. And Natasha knew that even if K didn't see it … Tony would think that was a green light for full steam ahead, and that was certainly trouble on its own. She could deal with  _that_ later, but right now? Her priority was following her little uncle at a respectful distance to keep a closer eye on  _him_.

At the other end of the spectrum, K wasn't entirely feeling like herself. It wasn't  _just_ the fight - or the blood loss. She was dizzy, and overly grateful that Steve had made a point to stick close to her even after the fight.

"You did well," he said as they walked toward the plane. "Are you going to be okay, or do you need something …"

K looked down at herself and shrugged. "I just … I wasn't expecting how that went down. I thought this was going to be a low key thing. You know … show up with the good guys for a change, hang out in the back - and …" K let all her breath out at once and looked at her hand before she scrubbed it across her face. "I know you were looking at this for a tactical move - a  _public move_ , but Captain Rogers, please don't expect me to be a mouthpiece." Her tone was soft enough that he almost had to strain to hear her. "I never wanted to do that for Erik -"

"It wasn't intentional," Steve said - almost matching her tone. "None of it was for you, I know that. I'm not going to put you in that situation, but K, a lot of these people won't listen to anyone  _but_ you with such a big gap in leadership from Magneto's old followers. We're kind of lucky in that right - none of them have the charisma, but … they already like you. If they want your opinion, you're going to have to give it, even if you  _don't_ want to be the one to do it."

She frowned slightly and nodded to herself, her gaze firmly on the ground. "As long as it's not a  _calculated_ thing. Everything was strategic with Erik. He never made a move unless it was in his best interests."

"That's  _not_ what's going on with us," Steve promised.

"Yeah," she said, still keeping her focus on the ground. "I know. I just had to say something." She forced a little smirk and stepped past him - no longer wanting any part of the conversation. When she got to the jet, Logan was in the pilot's seat and the plane was ready to take off. She found Vision and made a beeline for him, grateful as always when he simply kept her company instead of trying to talk.

Even if they hadn't tried for it - the whole experience had K feeling as if she was the odd woman out. She frowned when she looked down at her uniform. The spots that she'd been stabbed … didn't seem to be entirely intact. She examined the fabric, or what was left of it. The crowd had pushed in, sure… she just didn't think it had been that bad at the time.

"Penny for your thoughts," Vision said, bringing her back to reality.

"I lost some of my uniform," she said. "Right where I was stabbed."

"Are you concerned with the blood issue?" he asked quietly, and for a moment, K paused, weighing out her answer carefully.

"Not exactly," she replied. "There was plenty of Mystique's blood on my clothes before I got near the crowd. If it was Azazel … he'd need a more pure sample, I'm sure."

"Perhaps we should ask Wanda," he said softly and very slowly. "If there is cause for alarm, she'll be sure to bring Doctor Strange in as well."

K glanced up at the group. Strange had come and gone. He'd been watching over the group at large, and he'd seen how bloodied she'd gotten as well as the crowd that had come in tightly around her. If something had been at risk … he would have said  _something_ , she was sure. "Alright," K agreed in a sigh, settling in to wait for a quiet moment to speak with Wanda.

* * *

Of course, getting past Tony without alerting him to what K's concern was - simply wasn't happening. When K and Vision walked in with their heads together, the rest of the group gave them a bit of leeway, but Tony … Tony knew that their odd sibling-like relationship seemed to fade off a bit  _just_ after a mission rather than intensify. If nothing else, then because Vision was always ready to get back to Wanda and the boys.

But this time … the two of them were arm in arm and headed off toward Wanda without a second glance at anyone around them, and that had Tony following. Kind of.

On arrival to where Wanda was which, was with the twins and several of the other kids - including Peter, Teddy, and Kurt - the two adults didn't even come close to getting a word in before Peter gasped loudly enough and with enough  _oomph_ that he fell partway out of his chair backward.

"Are you okay?" K asked, darting toward him and looking concerned, but by the time she got to him, Peter was staring and pointing at her.

"I should be asking you! What happened? You have  _blood_ on you!" Peter exclaimed.

Which … was more than enough for the other kids to turn - and even the twins looked upset at that, though neither of them rushed toward her like Kurt did, looking honestly distraught. "Pete, you know I'm fine," K replied smoothing out his hair and not-so-subtly looking for a bump on his head from how hard he'd gone over. "I heal fast. I know someone must have told you."

"Well … Kitty did, but … your clothes are wrecked too!"

"It happens," Kurt said confidently with a nod. "Logan does that all the time."

K couldn't help but smirk at that and quickly took advantage of Kurt's confidence by gesturing to him grandly. "See?" she said, but when Peter got to his feet, he was quick to rush the step or two forward and then very carefully look for a good way to give her a hug without getting blood on himself.

As she was hugging him, Vision and Wanda shared a quick word - and by the time K had made the rounds giving the kids little hugs as they each came over and found ways to get more creative on hugging her without getting bloody, Wanda cleared her throat. "Boys, would you please start up the movie? Vision can help you get some popcorn, too."

"O-kay," Teddy said slowly, though he was frowning as he watched Billy and Tommy.

"That's mom-talk for 'we need to talk  _alone_ '," Tommy informed him - rather loudly.

"Yes, yes it is," Wanda laughed, then pulled him over to kiss his temple. "And you know I wouldn't ask you to step out unless it was not good for kids to hear."

" _We're goin' mom_ ," Tommy said, scrunching up his nose after she'd kissed him again.

They had no sooner left the room before Wanda raised her hands in K's direction and she found herself lifted off the ground as Wanda dove in - looking for any strengthening of the spell Azazel had cast on K. Though the sigul glowed slightly for a moment, by the time she set K back down on the ground, she was already shaking her head. "If you're that nervous about it, you shouldn't be stepping away from anyone," Wanda said.

"I wasn't nervous until after," K said.

"What happened?" Tony asked, finally stepping all the way into the room - and both women spun to face him.

"There was a blood issue on this run," Wanda said before K could speak up. "We were just checking to be sure that no one that was harassing K was in disguise."

"Is that an iss- of course it is," Tony said, running one hand through his hair. "How did anyone get that close to you?"

"It … wasn't exactly  _hard_ ," K said, though when she saw how anxious Tony  _smelled_ , she stepped forward and gave him a slow twirl with her arms held out. "I wasn't really hurt. I just …" She let her shoulders drop as a sigh slipped by her lips. "I … wouldn't be surprised if I made the news, and honestly, the crowd got a little … excited. Some of them couldn't keep their hands to themselves in a non-fighting manner. I lost part of my uniform."

"That was soaked in her blood," Wanda added. "And seeing as it was a crowd, the thought did occur that it could have been Azazel in disguise hidden in the crowd."

"Only he had no idea I was going to be there and there wasn't any news reports on it until we left," K pointed out, already trying to logic herself out of her own concerns.

"Maybe not," Tony agreed. "But he'll be waiting now. Wouldn't put it past him to cause trouble to draw you out."

"Then it's a good thing that I'm not supposed to go out all the time," K replied before she crossed the short space and made a point to give him a kiss. "I'm okay. Kids are safe. Wanda checked, we're good."

"Yeah, all the same? I'm calling Strange."

"You don't have to do that," K said.

"Gonna anyhow," Tony shot back, stepping out of the room with his phone to his ear - and clearly already talking with Strange.

K barely had enough time to turn back to Wanda, who was smirking at her and mouthed out "What did I tell you?" before Doctor Strange appeared in a swirl of light.

"You should have said something sooner," Strange said as he reached out and all sorts of symbols made of golden light appeared around the room - with much of it concentrating on K's wrist as he did a more thorough job of what Wanda had already done. When he was done - and the electricity once again quit dancing, he watched her for a long moment. "I didn't find anything new," he said in a metered tone. "But … I don't think you should be alone, either. If you begin to act strangely, or if you get the sudden urge to leave-"

"Right now. I'd like to go now." K's tone was flat and sarcastic, though it didn't help Strange's humor.

"- I mean a  _driving urge_ that you can't resist. You should keep someone nearby."

"Oh darn," Tony said, earning a hit to the center of his chest from K and an epically Saharan level of dry glares from Strange.

"A  _responsible_ person," Strange said, which had Wanda laughing and Tony looking insulted.

"I'll put Vision on it," Wanda said, smiling as K thanked him and took Tony's hand to pull him away.

* * *

"I don't know," Teddy said quietly. "She  _acted_ like she wanted to be Petey's mom." The boys were camped out under a blanket fort in the living room watching a movie. The fireplace was crackling away, working on pushing back the early spring chill that hung even with the heat on.

"She does that to everyone," Kurt said, though his tail was twitching irritably. "That doesn't mean she wants to  _marry_ Iron Man."

"Yeah, but …"

"She said we weren't pa-sposed to try an' marry her off," Peter said, feeling more than a little self conscious that the kids were on this track because of how nicely she'd treated  _him_. "So I think we should just watch our cartoon an' not talk about the grownups gettin'  _married._ "

"Katie would be your little sister! It would be so  _cool_. Don't you want K to be your  _mom_?" Teddy asked, wide eyed and still a little confused as to why someone  _wouldn't_ want two heroes for parents if they had a choice in it.

"Well, no- I mean … yeah, but … it's like … I don't want to forget my own mom, and it's not like we're gettin' 'dopted right now anyhow … Let's just ...let's just watch the movie, guys."

"Besides, if we all chose our parents, K would have most of us, yes?" Kurt said, trying to steer the narrative away from paired off guardians.

"Bet she wouldn't make you eat your vegetables," Peter muttered.

"Nope! She doesn't," Tommy happily reported. "And she makes pancakes if you ask."

The boys chatted for a little while, distracted by the idea of pancakes - and soon developing a plan to get her to make 'super tall stacks' for each of them the next Sunday.

And in the garage, after the debrief was over and all of the kids had been properly distracted, Logan had gone to 'work' … whiskey bottle in hand. He'd pulled out the creeper and a small box of hand tools then slid underneath the Jeep so that no one would bother him. It used to be enough to be next to the motorcycle, but now, with all the kids, that had been something of interest. Underneath the Jeep though - that … that was a lot more dirty and a lot less fun for them.

Logan was flat on his back on the creeper and he had one corner of his mouth tightened up as he stared up at the Jeep's brush guards. There really wasn't a lot more work to do there than there was on the Harley, if he was being honest. But the last thing Logan wanted to do was be honest with himself right then.

He wanted to get drunk since he  _knew_ he couldn't leave yet. Kurt and Kitty were too attached - Peter too, if he went by how often the little troublemaker was hanging around him.

The door from the house cracked open and Logan resolutely stared up at the undercarriage. He pulled out a socket wrench before his visitor could crouch down - but as he started marking a few things on the front axles, he could hear the scraping sound on the concrete as Natasha pulled over the spare creeper, and in short order slipped in next to him.

"Are you actually doing something?" she asked as she reached over and took the whiskey bottle for herself.

"Changin' the universal joints," Logan replied. "Gettin' close to time. Don't want 'em to break on the trail."

"So you're going out on the trails in this old thing?" she teased.

"Been a while," Logan said then turned to hold her gaze. "And I didn't want to do that until I changed the u-joints."

"Okay," she replied easily, then handed him the bottle back.

"Can't stay if you're not going to work."

"I can work," Natasha said, and that was the end of it for a while. Logan started working on the disassembly while Natasha carefully watched him and handed him tools. He wasn't lying. He did have actual work to do - though when the parts were out, and Logan was working to hand-fit them back into place, Natasha took a moment to open up the four-armed little device and find that in spite of Logan saying it needed a change … the bearings inside didn't look like they'd been used at all."

She kept the information to herself. It was a long, hard job to change that part, but … Logan had dove into it purposely to avoid talking about what Natasha had come out to talk to him about, so … fighting the urge to dredge it up anyhow, instead, Natasha simply gave him his privacy on it. "How are the brakes looking?" she asked on her way out.

"Could use a new set of pads," Logan said as he finished fitting the part. "You quittin' already?"

"I think you've got it covered here, but if you want help with the brakes, I can come back to hand you tools."

Logan watched her for a long moment before he nodded as he turned and Natasha slipped back inside. Whatever was going on with Tony and K - she was pretty sure that someone was in over their head.


	45. Damnit, Azazel!

News outlets from all over the country had picked up on the story of Magneto's most  _trusted_ followers turning on him. The story hadn't once mentioned most  _loyal_ … but  _trusted._  That word on the reports had caught Azazel's attention. The few that Magneto had trusted could be counted on one hand. And trust was such a slippery thing on that space station.

He'd just pushed away from his table, where he'd been cruising through some rather wealthy and hedonistic women when he caught a glimpse of what was going on. The women around him were easy pickings … But the news was so much more interesting. Azazel narrowed his eyes as he watched  _his_ elusive little feral… not holding close to Stark as he was  _sure_ she'd been doing, but instead, standing near to the  _soldier_  and the android.

He barely listened to what the reporters were saying, until of course, the footage showed his snarl little pet  _stabbing_ one of his favorites of the past decade. He sat up straighter, wondering if she  _knew_ who Raven really was. But even that though disappeared when he watched Raven stab her.

His entire body seemed to stand up and pay closer attention, taking only an instant to check the corner of the screen to verify that they were where he thought … before he quickly excused himself and teleported to the scene.

Azazel let out a snarl of frustration … not only was his prize gone already, but the clean up had started and anything of any  _use_ to him was already being destroyed.

But … if she was going to try to pretend she was a hero … he knew he could at least set the stage for a large enough skirmish that the white-hat delusional idiots would be forced to bring her along. Of course, it was easy enough for him to sense the magic that had been used there earlier … the witch wasn't likely to have even considered leaving her brood, but the Sorcerer from Beecher street … he was going to be troublesome.

With a twitch of his tail, Azazel teleported to the so-called  _school_ in Westchester. It would take a bit of planning, but if all went to plan, he'd know before the next group outing if it was possible to cloak his scent from the sharp noses of the two ferals. The brimstone, he was sure, would be a dead giveaway. But even that was easily avoided, even if it was bothersome to his preferred method of travel. A smirk pulled at the corner of his lips. Now that he thought about it, he wouldn't be surprised if  _Lilja_ had been relying on the brimstone as a tip off. It was a strong enough scent to cover other scents, after all. This … may be more interesting than he thought.

* * *

Even with the little bit of fussing Tony had insisted on doing by calling in Strange - and then by insisting that they needed to spend a few days in bed, the group was doing well together. The combined team's maiden run was well received and so successful, in fact, that it really wasn't long before the whole group was again going out to try and keep the peace. For the most part, it was going pretty well. Though after a few little runs before now, there were more than a few better prepared amateur Magneto supporters that were waiting for them in the crowd. They were dealt with quickly - and though there were some more aggressive types that had given the team a good fight, the outcome was still the same.

Natasha had tried to help, but she couldn't stop the fact that Logan and K ended up once again working in tandem together - and they'd been even  _more_ suited to back each other up this time too - which really had only resulted in an even  _quieter_ and more  _tense_ Wolverine. And this time, it wasn't just Natasha that had noticed. Scott had done a small double take when he saw Logan. Particularly since after a fight like that, it was hard to get Logan that keyed up. Yet …

"Something go wrong?" Scott asked quietly, which only got a more tight expression from Logan as he shook his head with a grunt. It was enough to get Scott to pause as Logan passed him by, but not enough for Scott to actually  _say_ anything further.

By the time the mixed groups were gathering up at the old Avengers mansion to compare notes, they were all pretty worked over. Even if no one had whipped up another rioting crowd.

Both K and Logan were fairly bloodied up - and by the patterns of blood they were wearing it was pretty clear that it wasn't all theirs. There was a long line across K's cheekbone that had clearly bled well, even if now it was all healed. And though she didn't say anything, she wasn't feeling … right. And she couldn't pinpoint when she'd started not feeling right either.

While the group went around discussing what had happened, Tony had made a point to take up a spot near K, and she gratefully put an arm around him and started leaning against him as the others talked. Which was all very normal for them … until it very suddenly wasn't.

Her hands clenched along with her stomach and her hearing started to fuzz out. Everyone and everything sounded very muted and she looked around with a little glare as she straightened up. So she missed it when Tony asked if she was alright. K was pulling away from him without realizing it, and as she did, the others began to see it too - one by one.

Tony took a hold of her hand only for K to snatch it back to herself as she took a few steps backward. A few of them were speaking, but she simply couldn't hear them over the rushing in her ears and the fluttering  _pull_ that was showing her the path to take to  _leave_. She closed her eyes to try and shut out the interference … but all it really did was make the pull that much more immediate and when she opened her eyes again, it was to simply turn her back to them and walk away.

The first few steps were almost unsure, but every step closer had her focus on not just where but  _who_ she was rushing to that much more pressing. As she rounded the corner of the building, she searched the faces on the street - many of which were looking her way, but even disguised, she knew Azazel when she locked onto him, and contrary to what her mind was telling her, she couldn't help the genuine smile of relief on seeing him. At the moment of recognition, he dropped the disguise and simply held out his hand to her. All she had to do was cross the street to where he was waiting with a smug sort of look on his face. But it was all she wanted to do.

No one in the group of heroes had missed K's quiet and odd exit, and when she failed to respond to Tony, of course, he had turned to follow her. She didn't even seem to notice though when Tony got a hold of her gloved hand, instead pulling hard enough from his grip to lose the glove - and for an instant, he saw how the mark at her wrist was much fresher-looking.

"Doc!" Tony called out when he saw it, and anyone that had been trying to have a conversation turned in time to see K striding toward the street almost strutting as she left. And while Strange rushed over to Tony and the two began to follow K, Jean took a moment to reach out and brush K's mind. She realized why K wasn't responding to anyone calling her name when the only thing she got from K's mind was an overwhelming  _pull_ to find Azazel.

Jean's gaze searched the crowd lining the street, mentally reaching out to find someone that was off, and across the street from the mansion was a now-familiar figure - and the demon was positively grinning as K headed his way.

Those that had seen the Phoenix in action for themselves before quickly recognized the flames around Jean that had burst up before she even had a chance to tell anyone else what was going on, but when the others pieced it together, they simply moved to help Jean as she floated after K, fire in her wake.

On the other hand, when Steve darted forward to try and stop K by simply wrapping his arms around her from behind, lifting her up and planting his feet, she fought him tooth and nail - and it wasn't anything like when they were in the tower. She was vicious as she thrashed in his arms. "K, calm down, come on," Steve said over her shoulder. As he held her, Clint zipped by at a sprint, slowing only long enough to slap Tony's bracers on her wrists so she couldn't  _stab_ anyone.

"Please," K managed at barely over a whisper, sounding entirely pitiable as she squirmed, unable to get free. " _I_   _need to go._ "

"I can't … you really don't want to go," he told her, honestly feeling bad in spite of the situation at hand … until of course, she started fighting him harder to get loose, going from a pleading whisper to an outright growl just before she threw her head back and bashed him in the face. It was enough to startle him, but he seemed almost prepared for it. His grip loosened, but only just. But it was enough for her to press forward and lean down enough to bite the living hell out of his arm.

Steve couldn't help but let go of her with that - and his cry of pain caught his teammates' attention - and positively delighted Azazel.

Tony, of course was there in a flash, and as expected, her reaction to him was positively violent. "Let. Me. Go!" K snarled, though with Tony in his armor, she couldn't exactly do him any real damage without her claws in play.

" _I'm not letting you run to Azazel_ ," Tony shot back through gritted teeth. "Be mad now, but you'll thank me later." While he was grappling to hold onto her, Jean reached out and went right to the source of the problem, fire dripping off of every word as she snapped, "Let her go. I won't ask twice."

Azazel grinned wider somehow. "I don't think so, my dear girl. I've spent too much time on this one to let her slip away. At least … not without something equally intriguing in trade."

Jean's lip curled up before she reached out - first with the fire of the Phoenix, but that only got a loud, echoing laugh from the old demon. "Really?  _Fire_? There is no fire you can burn that would frighten me, my dear."

"Fine," Jean bit back - though her voice held a tritone that Azazel clearly wasn't used to hearing. She started up a telepathic attack that would have had most people reeling, and though her attack was fierce, it wasn't enough to stop him cold, and in a blink, Azazel had teleported away from the still burning Jean, only to appear closer to where Tony was still desperately trying to hold on to K.

He was almost close enough to touch her - his arm stretched out toward her as Jean shouted her warning  telepathically to everyone on their side.  _He's going to try and take her with him!_ She was only halfway through her sentence though when Tony saw the demon nearly to the two of them, and on instinct more than anything else, one hand popped up and blasted at Azazel back. The hit wasn't solid though as Azazel teleported to his other side, and he'd managed, with K fighting hard to break free to barely wrap his hand around her wrist just before a ringing  _snikt_ echoed around them followed closely by a howling cry of pain from Azazel as his hand dropped to the ground.

An instant later, Scott fired a shot at Azazel at the same moment the demon blasted Logan away, though both of them were on their feet quickly, and Tony was entirely upset as K finally managed to break loose from him.

K hadn't made it more than a few paces at a dead run before her feet lost contact with the ground and she cried out in a full rage - unable to break free of the golden orb that Doctor Strange had managed to trap her in. She was clawing at the orb with her fingers - unable to do it any damage. "Get me out!" she called out, the desperation clear in her voice, though now Azazel was honestly enraged, gripping his injured arm and glaring at Logan.

"When I'm through with the beast, my pet," he replied in a low growl, though the acknowledgement showed as pure relief on her as she tried to find a chink in the magical sphere.

"Hope you got a friend," Logan growled right back, squared up with Azazel as he held out one hand and beckoned him forward with just his fingertips. "Bring it."

Steve was shouting at Logan to stop, but Logan was holding his ground as Azazel charged looking as if he meant to bring hell to Earth right  _then_. Logan had pulled his arm back, ready to attack when the demon disappeared in a poof of smoke, only to reappear behind Logan and run him through with his drawn sword. Before Logan could react, he reached up, leaving the sword through Logan's back to rest a hand on his shoulder, freezing him in place.

" _She's already mine_ ," Azazel hissed in a low tone that only Logan could hear. "Try to follow and I'll make sure she helps me kill every last one of you." He leaned forward so he could be sure that only Logan knew what he was going to say. "Starting with those that you hold dearest."

Logan was growling lower than before when Azazel was hit from both sides with a blast from both Tony and Scott. It was more than enough to stagger him, and in the process freed Logan up from the hold he had on him. As Logan spun to face Azazel, he reached out with his claws extended and very neatly sliced the tail right off of him, getting more howls of pain from the demon king.

All at once, Azazel's fit exploded out from him, knocking back every hero on the ground. He was panting, bleeding and enraged, but all of the heroes but two were down and out and Azazel turned his focus on Doctor Strange. "You've lost, wizard," he growled out as he stalked toward him - though … admittedly not as confidently as he normally would have. The loss of his tail threw him off balance from how he would normally move, and after taking a few steps, his lip curled up with a growl and he simply teleported over to Strange. "Release her from this spell or I will separate your head from your body."

"I will not give her to  _you_ ," Strange argued, readjusting his course to defend not only K, but himself as well. "Not knowing what damage you could use her for."

And that had Jean wondering what exactly the demon was fighting so hard for. At the beginning of this fight, he'd even been ready to barter out another deal, so she couldn't see if it was just  _more_ he was after, or more powerful.

As Strange and Azazel traded magical blows, Jean narrowed her eyes and positively tore into Azazel's mind - surprising the demon himself, since he had been distracted by Strange and his psychic defenses obviously weren't preparation enough for Jean in concert with the Phoenix force. Even where his protections were solid, Jean burned through all of them, tearing through his mind, not only to see that he had no intentions of  _ever_ letting K go, but that he had never even considered it _._ From the very beginning, he had meant to keep her solely for the prospect of unkillable progeny that he hoped would have the power to teleport and claws as well. It was simply too tempting for him to pass up - the possibility of a small army of his own raised to do his bidding.

The others were starting to stir as Jean moved to look deeper into Azazel's mind - the Phoenix fire burning out his attempts to stop her progress as she dug though his memories.

Logan saw the fire, and the way that Jean was floating, and instead of calling out to her to stop her, he removed the sword that Azazel had left in him then headed toward the burning, screaming demon to give her a little hand, plunging his claws into him to keep his attention off of Jean, ignoring the physical damage he was taking in his endeavor to do  _something_ useful.

Which was fortunate since it forced him to split his focus from the physical pain and the psychic.

Jean took her time digging through his mind - looking into the scores of others that he'd dealt with and the damage he'd left in his wake… by the time Jean had even scratched the surface, Azazel was already starting to fall apart at the combined forces of Wolverine's physical damage, the Phoenix force destroying him psychically, and Dr. Strange's spells stripping him of power and binding him.

To the rest of the gathered group - that was slowly rousing - it looked as if Azazel was literally falling apart at the seams. As he melted down, Jean only seemed to burn brighter - the familiar bird-like form surrounding her.

But Jean and Strange didn't see that Azazel wasn't the only one screaming in agony either. K was beyond any kind of communication, and writhing as the demon came apart, and when the fires and the screaming stopped - Doctor Strange was the quickest to get to K and then step back when he saw the spot where the mark had been cut into K's wrist was entirely burned out right down to the shining adamantium covered bone.

The silence after the fire and screams was so sharp that the only sound echoing the tall buildings was Scott quietly talking Jean down. The otherwise silent streets made the words clear, even with as soft as Scott was speaking - the tender tone one that the Avengers had not heard from Scott.

In contrast, Jean was still furious - and they could hear every word she said - ringing in the air as she spat out what she'd seen and how she wasn't going to let Azazel get away with it. "This wasn't a single deal," she said, the tritone of the Phoenix still ringing around her voice. "She was to be his thrall -  _so he could overthrow heaven and earth._ "

"You didn't let him get away with anything, Jean," Scott said. "You and Doctor Strange disintegrated a demon. I think you more than addressed the problem. Come on."

Jean narrowed her eyes for a long moment before she finally looked toward K and started to lose some of the fire - especially when she saw Tony crouching down beside K in obvious concern. "I had to burn out his influence," she explained. "I'm sorry, but it was the only way to make sure he couldn't come back."

"Sweetheart, you're nowhere near sorry," Scott said with a raised eyebrow. "And no one is going to get after you about it."

"Good." Jean tipped her head, then narrowed her eyes at the burn mark on K's wrist. "We should have done this from the start."

"You didn't know what he was going to do," Scott reasoned. "So why don't we call it - we can finish this debrief at home."

"Come on, Jeannie - I'll give you and your boy here a drink," Logan said.

Jean smiled at that and put her head on Scott's shoulder. "Thank you. I think we'll take you up on that."

Before they could load up to do that, though, Doctor Strange was working away on K as Tony had her head in his lap. Strange was searching deeply to see if there was anything residual that the demon could use to come  _back_. "Not that I was expecting it, but … aside from the psychic backlash, nothing is out of place," Strange said, then tipped his head. "Well. Nothing any further out of place than it normally is."

"Thanks, Doc," Tony said before he gently picked K up and carried her back himself.

The team was hardly in the air when they received a call from Wanda. "You're bringing Doctor Strange back, aren't you?" she asked. "We had an incident here that I can't … quite explain. And I can't  _do_ anything about it."

"What kind of incident?" Steve asked, already frowning hard.

"The kids were playing - and out of the blue, Kurt just started …  _screaming_ and writhing. It scared the other kids pretty badly - and we have him tucked in now, but he's pretty out of it."

Steve glanced at Jean, who simply narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "He had a piece of his magic, influence,  _soul_ , whatever it was - it was in each of his descendants so he could  _enslave_ them and make them  _sacrifice themselves_ for him at his word," she said, a bit of fire coming back into her gaze. "That had to go."

"Which, I'm sure it did - along with everything else demonic," Strange said. "But if it's all the same to you, I'll meet you there." He stepped back from the group to open a portal for himself - and then he stepped through, leaving them mid-flight to shaking their heads at him.


	46. Fire And Brimstone No More

On landing in Westchester, Logan made a beeline to find Kurt, and had to smirk when he saw how Katie had taken it upon herself to camp out with Kurt, even if he was very groggy and looked weak. "You two gonna spend the night like this?" Logan asked as he crossed his arms and leaned in the open doorway.

Katie nodded seriously. "Kurt got hurted," she said. "He was hurt real bad, and he needs snuggles."

"An' you're the girl for the job, I suppose."

"Yep!" She grinned up at Logan brightly. "I been giving him kisses on the cheek 'cause it makes him happy."

"Careful, kiddo, TLC like that and he might not ever recover."

"That's silly," she said, waving him off. "Kisses and snuggles make everyone better!"

"Uh huh," Logan said, stepping back. "I'll just let your Mom know where you are. No reason to leave 'im alone for thirty seconds in case he makes a sudden miraculous recovery." Logan did pause however and make sure he had Kurt's attention. " _Wird es dir gut gehen? Denkst du, dass du über Nacht genug Küsse bekommst?_ "

Kurt blushed purple high on his cheeks as he nodded. " _Vielleicht …ja_." Kurt couldn't help but smirk when he knew he was being teased.

"K was right.  _Schon ein Frauenheld_."

" _Nein, ich bin kein Frauenheld!_ " Kurt replied, though he wasn't very aggressive about his volume, even if he looked mortified. Logan smirked crookedly at him and raised one eyebrow, which had Kurt snuggling deeper back into bed. "I'm  _not_."

"What are you not?" Katie asked, and before Kurt could answer, Logan beat him to it.

"He's not a lot of things, but he does need someone to keep an eye on him," Logan said, which had Kurt smirking again.

Katie was giggling as Logan headed off, though he didn't make it too far before Kitty caught him with a look of triumph on her face. "Hi, Logan. Didja see Katie and Kurt?"

"Is that who that was all curled up?" Logan said, smirking at her.

Kitty giggled and nodded and motioned for him to crouch down so she could whisper, "They're gonna get married someday. I'm gonna help!"

"You makin' big plans for 'em, kitten?"

"Uh huh." She grinned. "I like Katie, and I like Kurt, so - I'm helping!"

"You sure are," he said before he scooped her up and gave her a little squeeze, carrying her on his hip as they walked. "Shouldn't you be gettin' ready for bed too? Or are you just decidin' who needs to get hitched?"

"If I had  _my_  way, everybody'd be lots happier!" Kitty sniffed with her nose in the air.

"Too bad they ain't got the damn sense to listen to ya, half pint," Logan chuckled before he ruffled her hair.

Kitty nodded and then wrapped her arms around Logan's neck in a solid snuggle. "Yeah. That happens a lot."

"Need me to push that Guthrie boy down some stairs so you can make a big deal about him?" Logan teased, though he managed to keep his tone more serious.

Kitty giggled and shook her head. "No. I'm just gonna kiss him in dance class. I don't  _need_  help."

"Good, cause I sure ain't gonna help with that," Logan said in a low growl to get a smile from her.

Kitty giggled and then melted into a hug all over again. "I love you, Logan."

"Love you too, half-pint."

* * *

On landing, K had been taken to the medbay - and as soon as Hank cleared her from anything being off physically, for the sake of safety, Hank insisted on letting her wake up alone in the isolation cell. She was still wearing the devices Tony had made, but that didn't mean she couldn't be a threat if she woke up startled or afraid.

The little feral was exhausted well beyond what Hank had realized. The Phoenix burning out Azazel had simply been the final straw, and once K was out, she simply had no desire to wake up again. She couldn't remember what had happened after her hearing fuzzed out, and on some very basic, deep level, she knew Azazel had made a play, so when she found herself drifting out of consciousness after God knows how long, she really  _really_  didn't want to open her eyes and see who it was that had her now.

She almost couldn't help but push the limits of her senses as she reached out - concentrating to see if she could catch a whiff of sea air or the heat of the tropics. But when instead of salty breezes and hot sand she smelled the sterile scents emitted from a laboratory, she resolutely kept her eyes  _shut_.

It could be SHIELD or AIM … Hydra, any  _number_  of private labs operating under some government's purse strings … or … if she made herself calm down and pay closer attention, she could smell a hint of artificial vanilla and imitation coconut … common additives in certain snack cakes favored by a rather snuggly looking blue-furred doctor.

But … K's apprehension was still winning out, and she did her best impression of playing dead in hopes of simply going back to sleep.

She should have known that a group as advanced as the X-Men - who were teamed up with Tony Stark - would have some means in place to monitor her and know when she was actually awake.

Of course, those in the lab had no way of knowing what K was thinking when she woke up, and for all they knew, her little game of possum could very well have been an attempt to take one of them out on her way to the exit. "Were you planning on sleeping all day or is this your attempt to take my head off?" Hank asked as he stood at the energy-field that sufficed as a door.

K drew in a deep, shaky breath and bit her lip before she turned onto her side and pulled the blanket up to her shoulders. "This first," she said in a raspy tone. "But if you can just … sedate me for a week, I wouldn't say no."

That had Hank's eyebrows raised high - especially since K had a long history of not cooperating with medical personnel. "Is there something I should be aware of?" Hank asked, throwing caution to the wind as he opened the door and stepped inside, though it did seal up behind him.

"No," she replied, curling in a little tighter. "I just don't know for sure what … do I want to know what happened?"

"Somehow, Azazel must have managed to collect some of your blood. You were rather temporarily drawn to him to a degree that was frankly, alarming."

"Did anyone get hurt?" K asked, already cringing as she waited for the answer.

"Nothing that won't heal quickly enough - and nothing anyone will hold against you." When K tucked her chin closer to her chest, Hank continued. "There was no skill in your attempt to join Azazel. It was simply a mad scramble, and we stopped you quite effectively."

"For how long?"

Hank frowned and took a few steps closer to sit nearby in the empty chair that was carved out of the wall. "Forever." He gestured to her wrapped up arm. "When you're cleared, we'll remove the bracers and check to see if that mark is gone permanently as Doctor Strange believes it should be."

At that, K glanced at her wrists and looked honestly surprised to see the glowing lights on the bracers. "I didn't even feel them," she muttered as Hank got up and came over to her.

"You don't plan to stab, slash, or otherwise maim me, do you?" he teased, but K shook her head - serious as a heart attack as Hank reached out to deactivate the bracers. As before, the lights flickered off and the metal retracted back into the bracelets and a few moments, later, as K held perfectly still, Hank removed them. He immediately took a hold of her right hand and turned it over to look at her wrist, which once again showed no blemish whatsoever. Though it  _hurt_.

* * *

"Bracers are off," Tony said half under his breath as he turned off the little alarm on his phone. As before, he was the only one to get the alert, though this time, he was in his little lab with Jan, who was also drawing on his drafting table.

He stopped what he was doing and set the phone down, turning so he could see Jan's reactions as he tapped out an impatient rhythm on the workbench. "If you want to go see her, then go," Jan reasoned. "You  _obviously_  want to."

"I promised McCoy I'd give him time to do his whole … pointless … medical thing." Tony frowned as he crossed his arms. "What can he do medically for someone that heals that fast anyhow?"

"Tony," Jan said, setting her pencil down as she got to her feet. "You need to calm down. You know she's fine, right? So just … let Henry do what he needs to do. I'm sure she'll be happy to see you whenever you get there." When he didn't seem to quite relax, Jan had to laugh. "You're  _really_  hung up on this girl, Tony. How serious are you getting? Because I have to tell you, you are not fooling anyone with your play it cool routine,  _Mr. Stark_."

Tony tipped his chin up at that. "Not gonna answer that."

"It's fine. You don't have to. And I'm not picking!" Jan clarified, holding her hands up quickly. "I want you to be happy, you know. I was just pointing out that you obviously have a thing for her. And it's more than you're admitting out loud. Which is just criminal. Use your words, Tony!"

"Yeah, I know," Tony agreed. "I just … don't really talk about this kind of stuff. When it works out, I'll just … run with it."

"And … are you running?" Jan asked, eyes wide as she watched her old friend.

Tony thought about it for a moment and finally nodded lightly. "Kinda feels like it. Yes. Running with it."

Jan smiled at him automatically, and popped up to her feet to make a quick dash over and give him a hug. "So … go get your girl then! What are you waiting for?"

Tony grinned back at her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "You're the best, Jan." He didn't wait for more of a prompting before he darted out of the lab, leaving Jan to her drawings in peace - or, at least, what passed for peace when she was sort of rubbing the spot he'd kissed her on her cheek and trying to convince herself that she  _was_  okay.

Not jealous. Nope.

* * *

K frowned, wondering what had happened as Hank started a much more thorough exam. He was still checking her over when Tony showed up, greeting her with a low whistle that had her looking up at him with a smirk. "Welcome back," he said, looking perfectly pleased. "You really are slippery to hang onto if you want to go."

"You have no idea," K shot back, still smirking very softly.

He was into the cell with them before Hank could finish, and K could feel the relief washing off of him as he took a seat next to her and began to watch Hank with her - his arm already resting across her back. It seemed like he simply couldn't help but reach out when they were that close and K was sure to cover his hand where it rested at her waist. She turned her head to look up at him and had to let out a little sigh before she simply leaned into him. She had never expected Tony to be such a calming presence for her, but here they were. She was comfortable with him. Which was kind of a big deal.

"I believe, that unless you have some other concerns regarding what transpired," Hank said, letting his statement hang in the air for a moment. "You're free to go."

Tony turned toward K, and when it was clear she had no objections, he pulled her to her feet and led the way out, pulling her by her hand. "Thanks, doc!" he called out as they left the isolation area. Of course, they didn't get too far before Tony pulled her into a side room. "We should go out."

"What are you talking about?"

"You don't have a demon chasing you anymore, the Magneto thing isn't a thing - there's nothing stopping us from just going out. On a normal-ish kind of date. Or not. Just … we should get some fresh air. Alone."

"You've been thinking about this for a long time."

"I have," he admitted. "So let's go out. Or stay in. Either way. But if you don't want to go out, we definitely need to relocate to a less populated place for a day or two." He let out his breath and pulled her a little closer. "I want to spend some time with you. Really."

"What about Katie and Peter and the gaggle of kids following you around?" K asked, though she wasn't saying no, and she didn't look irritated at all.

"They'll get a turn too."

K rested her hand on the side of his head as she looked up at him. "I'd love to get some quiet time with you, and not even all of it has to be 'shut up and drop 'em' time … but I really do need to know what happened with Azazel  _first_. I feel like I've been pulled through a knothole."

"I can help with some of that," he said. "But … for the details, you're going to want to hear from the others."

"Were you worried?" K teased, though when he kissed the sense out of her, she realized how right she was - no teasing needed. "I'm sorry I worried you."

"Wasn't your fault. But. You're right. We have a small army of kids that will be looking for you."

* * *

As promised, K took a few days with Tony after hearing the extent of how far gone she was - which was a little alarming for her to hear. She honestly hadn't remembered a thing even after being told about it and she was not happy at all with that revelation. It had freaked her out enough that it didn't take any work at all on Tony's part to get her to go, more than ready to try and forget about it with him if at all possible.

Kurt had, of course, improved leaps and bounds and was up and about again after Kitty razzed him about purposely staying in bed for more kisses, though by the irritated switch to his tail and the scowl he was wearing, Logan was pretty sure he wasn't entirely faking it. And after having heard what Azazel had planned for Kurt somewhere down the line, he was very sure that the little boy was sore at the very least. The way he walked revealed how tender his muscles were, and he was sleeping a lot more than usual, quietly keeping to himself if Katie wasn't around to try and cheer him up.

It was late in the morning after the breakfast was cleared and the kids were enjoying their weekend when Kurt hung back, carefully slipping over to Logan.

"How you doin', kiddo?" Logan asked softly as Kurt settled in with his chin resting on his crossed arms.

"Still sore," he mumbled, though now that he was more or less alone with Logan, he wasn't nearly so irritated.

"It'll pass," Logan assured him, glancing over the top of his newspaper at him before he reached for his coffee.

Kurt frowned deeper and scrunched his shoulders to his ears as he buried his frown further into his arms with a disgruntled sounding 'hmph'.

"Got somethin' to say, might as well get it out," Logan replied without turning toward him.

Kurt looked agitated again as he looked up at Logan before finally he threw up his hands. "I just don't know why I'm sore! I didn't  _do_  anything!"

Logan paused, honestly surprised that it had gone this long before he'd asked. "You should probably talk to Blue about that."

"I don't want to talk to  _Herr_  Blue!" Kurt said, sounding more angry. "I asked  _you_!"

Logan took a deep breath at that and set the paper down. He wasn't going to lie to him, he just wasn't sure what exactly was appropriate. "Do you believe in magic?" Logan asked finally.

"Of course I do," Kurt scoffed, as if it was a ridiculous thought not to. "Margali knew magic at the circus." He had his nose tipped up at that, then as Logan waited to see if he was done, Kurt started to deflate a bit. "Why?"

Logan thought about it for a long moment before answering. He knew that the kid was sensitive about how he looked, and that there had been some angry villager types back in Germany that had accused the little boy of being … well. Of being exactly … what i turned out he was. "Your father, was not a nice person. At all. And when Doc Strange took all the spells away that he'd used … anyone he'd used them on was hurt."

"But I've never met him," Kurt insisted.

"I know," Logan said. "But … when K took you from the woods, she's already met him. She told us who he was."

"She didn't say that when I met her," Kurt said, his arms crossed.

"To be honest, I think he scared her," Logan said.

" _Lächerlich_. No one scares K!"

"I think you might just be surprised, bud." Logan was smirking by that time. "He definitely scared her."

Kurt shook his head at that, though it was obvious he was thinking it over. "And he… used magic on me?"

Logan nodded his head slowly at that. "And on her, too."

"Is that why she has been hiding with Tony?" Kurt asked.

Logan's mouth tightened up at that as he nodded slowly. "More or less."

Kurt tipped his head to the side. "I don't like him as much as I like you," he said in what sounded like his very best attempt at consolation.

"That's because you got taste, kiddo."

Kurt smirked. "I do," he agreed. "And  _I_  think that Katie is very pretty and that you are much better than Tony," he said, listing them off on his two fingers.

"Are you done now?" Logan asked.

"Well, I  _also_  think Peter is my best friend even if he wants to stick with Tony," Kurt said.

"He wants to tinker," Logan said. "Pretty sure no one better for him to learn from than Stark."

"I suppose," Kurt said. He tipped his head to the side. "I think… I will ask K, then. About the magic. No one told me what it was."

"I don't know that the others wanted to tell you," Logan admitted. "But I don't see any reason not to tell you the truth. You should know."

Kurt leaned forward, his expression very serious. "I thought I was going to die."

Logan leaned toward him to meet him. "She didn't do too good either. I'm not surprised."

"Will you come with me?" he asked.

"Sure," Logan agreed. "They got back a little while ago."

Kurt nodded at that, leading the way to where he knew from his spying with Peter that he could find K. Of course, she probably hadn't been expecting him to show up with Logan - or to show up and say with all the bluntness of a little kid, "I want to know about the magic my father did to us."

K spun almost on the spot to stare at him for a moment. "Oh … kay. What … what do you know already?" K glanced up at Logan as she made her way over to Kurt and crouched down before she simply sat cross-legged on the floor.

"I know that he was not nice and that he scared you," Kurt said, though he seemed more nervous than before, if his tail switching was any indication. " _Es tut mir Leid_."

"Sweetheart," K said, her voice melting into a much more soothing tone than the surprised one she had at his introduction. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

"But you were hurt. Like me," Kurt said.

"I was," K agreed. "But it's very … complicated, what happened." She paused and tipped her head to the side. "Or maybe not. Your mama could do a lot of scary looking magic. I saw her when the riot started. Did you see that kind of thing often?"

Kurt nodded. "Margali knows all sorts of magic."

K nodded at that and smiled gently at him. "Not too long ago, I know the other kids - some of them - they saw when the skies turned dark and red …"

"Oh! Ja, Paige and Jubilee said the sky was going to fall. I told them they were being dramatic."

"That was your father throwing a temper tantrum."

Kurt's eyes were wide, and his tail was still. "What?"

"He came for me. He wanted me to go with him and I refused."

"That must have been frightening."

"I told him to get over himself," K said, smirking. "More or less." She drew in a deep breath. "But then … last week when we all went to fight, he managed to get some of my blood. And he did some nasty magic with it to make me go with him."

"That is very, very bad," Kurt agreed, his tone soft and shocked.

K forced a little smile as she offered him her hand. "Doctor Strange, Jean, and Logan stopped him and Doctor Strange undid all of his bad magic. That's what happened to you. That's why we hurt so much. But he can't hurt you now."

"But I still don't understand," Kurt said, frowning hard. "I didn't do anything. I don't know him!"

"No, you didn't," K said, pulling him a little closer so she could run her hand through his curls. "But … he knew you. And he knew Margali, and he stopped in now and again to ask about you. That was how I met him to begin with. I overheard them talking."

"I never saw him," Kurt said, pulling on the end of his tail. "Margali never said…."

"He didn't  _want her_  to say anything, and he didn't want you to see him," K said as gently as she could. "He wasn't anyone you'd want to meet. I'm sorry, but you're the exact opposite of him. You're a wonderful, good little boy, and he was honestly evil - and he meant to do evil to you."

Kurt bit his lip and he thought about it. "Did he… look like me?" he asked, gesturing to his tail and ears.

K let her shoulders drop and nodded. "He did. The color wasn't the same, though."

Kurt nodded quietly. "Then the villagers were right."

"Not exactly," K said. "I still say you're an angel. And he hated it when I pointed that much out."

"He would," Kurt said softly. "If he is as you say… with blood magic and … and if he looks like me… then he would not like that."

K covered his hand with hers. "He came here because I made a deal with him that didn't go his way. Not really. He hated being wrong, and he not getting what he wanted, and he hated the fact that you were interested in the church." She paused to touch foreheads with him. "Yes. I know you were interested in the church. So if you're still interested, I will personally drive you as often as you like."

Kurt blinked at K for a moment before he leaned in and snuggled into a solid hug. "Ja. Bitte."

K snuggled him tightly for as long as he wanted it, gently brushing his curls back. "You know who else can take you to church?" When Kurt shook his head with a little frown K smiled. "I'll bet Captain America would be happy to."

"Captain America?"

"Yeah," K said, nodding. "His parents were from Ireland. Most Irish are Catholic."

"Oh!" Kurt smiled and nodded. "Then we could go together."

K nodded at that. "I'll still go with, if you like."

"Please," Kurt said, giving her another hug. "You can bring Katie too! If - if she wants to come."

"I'll ask her," K said, curling around him protectively just to reassure him.

* * *

Jan was pretty sure one of the best feelings in the world was when a tiny little Josh was so completely comfortable with her that he fell asleep curled up with her. He was totally zonked out, and Jan couldn't really go anywhere, since Paige had decided she wanted to help and had zonked out on Jan's legs so… she was stuck.

But it was fun.

After all, everyone else was getting snuggles - so why couldn't she?

She was totally prepared to laze the day away, but of course, she hadn't considered that her trapped position meant that she had a full-blown view of Tony and K.

They weren't actually doing anything sappy or anything. And maybe that was what got her attention. They were just…comfortably hanging out with Peter and Kurt, playing with the boys and getting solid giggles out of both of them with their tickling and joking around.

And it just… sort of… hit her.

Jan had given up on the idea of her happy ending with Hank long before he'd died, but… that didn't mean she didn't still want it. And with everything else going on, she had sort of pushed it to the side. It hadn't been as important as, well, not dying.

And then there was one of her best friends in the world all… comfy-cozy with K and two little boys and Jan  _knew_  it was ugly, but wow, she hadn't been expecting how  _hard_  she got hit with the jealousy when she saw it.

Jan frowned to herself and tried very, very hard to ignore it. All of it. Because honestly, if she thought about it too long, she'd get in a weird headspace thinking about K and about Hank and about, well, all of it.

Right about the time Josh was starting to stir a bit, Katie came rushing in with her hands full of sweets that she'd absolutely pilfered from Jean - and Jan just couldn't deal with anything after that. It was one thing with Kurt and with Peter, but this sweet, dark-haired little girl that had attached to K throwing herself at  _Tony_  to catch and tickle was hitting all kinds of buttons Jan hadn't even realized she  _had_.

So as Tony pulled Katie into a full-on tickle monster snuggle, Jan took Josh up to his room with a muttered excuse over her shoulder that she didn't think K or Tony paid attention to anyway, though once Josh was curled up with his stuffed elephant, she didn't really know where else to go.

So it was just lucky, really, that Logan was just coming in from tinkering with his Jeep, and Jan didn't even think about it before she rushed over and latched onto him.

She just…  _really_  needed a hug.

"You okay?" Logan asked after he had gently wrapped her up. "You're gonna get dirty leanin' on me like this."

"Yeah," she said softly. "Yeah, I'm just…"

"You know you can't lie to me, right?"

Jan nodded, though faced with the prospect of actually having to  _admit_  anything, she found herself suddenly more emotional and just buried her face in Logan's shoulder. "It's so stupid," she said into his shirt.

At that, Logan wrapped her up a little better. "Doubt that somehow. Gotta be somethin' worthwhile if it's got you in knots."

"It is, though," Jan said. "It's so stupid because it's not fair."

"Yeah? Try me," Logan said. "You know I'll tell you if it's really dumb."

Jan looked over both shoulders before she held her breath and pulled Logan back out into the garage so they couldn't be overheard. "It's just… I thought Hank and I were going to have a perfect little family. Smart little kids and - and the whole nine, you know?" she said. "And I knew before we even got the divorce that it wasn't going to happen, and that's part of why it - I mean, well, that's not the point." She bit her lip. "I'm  _trying_  to support him. And it's not fair to be jealous, right? It's not  _his_  fault his girl has all these kids that follow her everywhere. And I never even - well, we never even  _dated_  so it's so  _stupid_  to be jealous, right?"

Logan simply shook his head at that. "Not stupid at all."

"It is," Jan said, letting her shoulders drop. "I'm  _trying_  to be his friend!"

Logan let out a breath and took a step forward to pull her into a much tighter, much better hug than before. "You're doin' more than most ever could."

Jan smiled sadly and tried to wipe her eyes to hide that she was crying. "We've known each other forever," she said. "I know how to look out for him. Even if it's just… so stupid."

"I wish I could tell you somethin' that'd be useful," Logan told her.

"Yeah, like I said…" Jan let out a shaky breath and then hugged him again. "I'll be okay," she said. "I just… didn't know how bad it was 'til just now."

"Not sure I want to know," Logan said, smirking at her.

Jan stuck her tongue out at him. "Weirdly enough? I can deal with Tony being all… how he is with girls. It didn't bother me when it was them  _sneaking_   _around_. It's the tiny little  _family_  that I can't handle. Apparently."

"Didn't think he'd go that route anyhow," he replied as he crossed the garage to break out the hidden whiskey and offer it to her.

"He doesn't think that's what he wants, because he thinks he'd be terrible at it. Which is stupid because he'd be  _amazing_  and it's clearly what he wants!" Jan rolled her eyes even as she gratefully poured herself some whiskey without even breaking her sentence. "He's an idiot."

"Seems to be the consensus," Logan teased.

"Yeah, but apparently I like idiots," Jan said. "I must be … I don't know. There's something wrong with my taste."

"You got a type," Logan teased. "No shame in that."

Jan shook her head at him but couldn't help but smile all the same. "Maybe I should stay  _away_  from the broody science types?"

Logan took a swig off the bottle. "Yeah, I don't know about that. If you gotta type, you're always gonna drift to it. Seems to me if you really wanted Tony's attention, you coulda just tried ta kill 'im. To hear Tasha tell it anyhow, that seems to be  _his_  type."

"Yeah,  _that_  was a weird time," Jan said, shaking her head. "She and Clint are so much cuter."

"Don't … No," Logan said, shaking his head.

"What, you don't think they're getting more attached?"

"I think she can do better," Logan replied.

"Oh come on. I like Clint," Jan said. "He's been a great friend, especially after what happened with Hank."

"That can't be helpin' your outlook with Tony either," he pointed out. "Sorry about that part, too."

"Not your fault," Jan said with a wave.

"This is what happens when I don't spend enough time around everyone," Logan said. "Miss the important stuff. If I'da been takin' Cap's money at poker more regular, I'd have known."

Jan shook her head and kissed his cheek. "Love you too," she said brightly.

Logan shook his head at that. "If all that noise is goin' on, then you don't need to go back that way, and I don't really wanna see it either." He tossed her the keys to the Jeep. "Let's go put some mud on it. Break my good work. You'll feel better."

"Give you an excuse to baby it some more when we get back, too," she teased.

"Give me an excuse to stay in the garage, that's all."

Jan tipped her head to the side before she simply rushed over to hug him. "We're in this together, right? I'm so glad I've got a friend like you."

"Sure," Logan said. "You goin' alone or you need a trail guide? Don't matter either way - just tell me you can drive a stick shift."

"Oh, no, you're coming with me," Jan said with a smile. "You cheered me up, and now I'm going to return the favor. I'll drive - you bring your whiskey and I'll even let you pick the music."

"Alright," Logan said, smiling crookedly as he went to a different spot in the garage to produce a new bottle of whiskey. "Lets start on the harder trails before you can't steer right. Keep it on the property and if it gets too hairy, I'll take over."

Jan grinned. "Oh yeah. This is gonna be fun."

* * *

The afternoon with the kids had been fun - even if after a while, K had lost her fight to stay awake when she had so many little ones curled up with and on her, which meant that after the movie was over that Katie had picked out, Tony had to start breaking up the party.

He headed off to grab one of the Summerses - Jean was especially good at levitating kids back to where they belonged - but on his way, he was interrupted by a commotion as Janet and Logan got back from their mud busting run in the woods. Of course, Tony had no idea what they'd been up to - only that Janet was clearly drunk, laughing uproariously and half draped over Logan as he brought her into the house. Both of them had mud on their jeans up to their knees or better and Janet even had a smear on her cheekbone from God only knows what.

"What … is this?" Tony asked once the garage door was closed and the two of them seemed even halfway stable being upright.

Janet beamed at Tony and waved. "Oh, hello! You missed all the fun!"

"What kind of fun?" Tony asked, frowning as he crossed his arms.

"Logan let me drive!" Jan giggled and then kissed Logan's cheek. "Because he loves me!"

Tony did a clear double take as Jan dissolved into giggles. "Wait. You were driving drunk?"

"I'm not  _that_  drunk!" Jan insisted - though that was impossible to believe with how much she was using Logan.

"You're using him to stay upright!"

"Okay, yes, but we didn't go  _far_ ," Jan insisted.

"How is that okay?"

"Oh, relax, Tony. I'm an  _Avenger_! I do dangerous stuff all the time!"

"Did you hit anything?"

"I aaaaalmost hit a deer, but I have good reflexes!" she sang out happily. "We had to detour through a creek, but it  _totally kept the deer safe_."

"And the water wasn't even that deep," Logan added helpfully, chuckling along with her.

"Ex-actly!"

"I'll fit it with a snorkel for next time," Logan promised.

"Ooh, yes!" Jan beamed at Logan. "One for me, one for you, and one for the Jeep."

Logan was grinning right back at her by that time. "I'll even show you how to use the winch. So you can take it if I'm not around."

"Yay!" Jan giggled and kissed Logan's temple. "You're the best."

"Well. Glad you had fun, but the little ones are trying to sleep, so …"

"Oooh, right. Shhh." Jan giggled and halfway toppled toward Tony, grinning the whole way. "Mr. Mom Stark."

Tony clearly wasn't sure how to even react to that, and it took him a moment to process it. "If that were the case, you'd be grounded, wouldn't you?"

Jan giggled and patted his shirt with one hand. "Aww, that's cute that you think you can mom me," she said.

"C'mon, Wasp," Logan said, tipping his head her way. "We can shoot a little pool still."

Jan turned Logan's way and grinned. "Yep! No bedtime for Avengers, that's for sure." She gave Tony a kiss on the cheek before she took a running start and positively jumped on Logan's back. "Let's go!" she said, her arms wrapped around his shoulders.

Logan stumbled forward a step before he caught his balance, then simply fell apart laughing at her. He didn't miss more than a step or two though before he handed her the half-empty bottle in his hand and headed off for the game room, leaving a very shocked Tony behind. He looked dazed for a long moment, but by the time he remembered what he'd left for - and then returned to find K curled up with Katie tucked under her chin, a lot of that shock seemed to slip away.

The fact was that Jan was right. About everything. And after their little talk in the lab, Tony had been thinking more and more about it. All he needed to do was to just … tie up a few loose ends.

….

Translations:

_Wird es dir gut gehen? Denkst du, dass du über Nacht genug Küsse bekommst?" -_

Will you be okay? Do you think you'll get enough kisses overnight? "

 _Vielleicht …ja._  - Maybe. … yes.

 _Schon ein Frauenheld_  - You're a womanizer.

 _Nein, ich bin kein Frauenheld_  - No, I'm not a womanizer!

 _Lächerlich_  - Ridiculous

 _Es tut mir Leid_  - I am sorry.


	47. Paperwork

Even as the gathered group of heroes and kids was still working out their new "normal" - with the teams more or less combined- and with copycat Magneto groups finally starting to realize Erik wasn't coming back and the Avengers and X-Men wouldn't put up with another radical troublemaker like him… there were other things to occupy the minds of several of the heroes there.

Most importantly - at least to Jean's mind - was the need to get Katie squared away with K. Even if they all knew the truth, that didn't change that the little girl had adopted K as her own, and it would be a shame if they didn't get official paperwork making sure Katie was squared away. And Tony had been sure to step up to the plate to provide an army of lawyers to necessitate anything that they needed.

Of course, it wasn't  _quite_ as simple with many of the other kids.

Jean and Scott had talked to Natasha long and in depth about the Guthries in particular. Paige was very attached to her ballet teacher, and she had even considered the idea of staying with Natasha and Clint. But… the boys were a different story. Sam was positively attached to Scott and clearly wanted to be like him, and Josh would calm down fastest for Jean.

So, Jean, Scott, and Natasha sat down with Sam and Paige to explain that it was  _their decision_ , and they would work up whatever paperwork was needed to keep the three siblings together and to keep them all with one set of parents.

"I will still be your ballet instructor," Natasha promised Paige in particular. "No matter what family you belong to."

"Are all the other kids gettin' to pick too?" Sam asked. "Or is it harder cuz there's three of us?"

"Everyone will get to pick," Scott assured him.

"You can even pick someone besides us," Jean put in, sure to impress on the kids that they were free to choose who they  _wanted_.

"Alright," Sam said, looking thoughtful. "What about the kids that ain't picked someone that's gettin married?"

"We're  _all_ going to look out for everyone," Natasha said.

Scott nodded, smiling Sam's way. "We know better than to separate family. And that's what everyone is - family. We just want to make sure that you kids get to have some stability, too."

Sam nodded at that and looked over at Paige. "We gotta pick for Josh on accounta' he's too little."

Paige tipped her head to the side. "Well, aren't we all three gonna stick together?" she asked. "We gotta pick for all of us."

"That's what I meant, silly," Sam said, shaking his head. He looked at both Scott and Jean then Natasha before he put his head together with Paige - the two of them whispered quietly for a few moments before they both nodded and Sam gave Paige a long hug. "Alright, baby sis."

Jean was trying hard not to smile too much, even if she'd absolutely been peeking. "So? What do you say?" she asked gently.

"We talked about it, an' we think we wanna stay with the Summerseses for now. On account'a Miss Natasha and Mr. Clint still doin' a lot a' spy work an you guys 're teachin' more'n anythin'."

"And you're gonna get married soon," Paige added quietly.

Jean and Scott both looked thrilled, and Natasha couldn't help but smile, too. "But I'll still come and teach you both to dance," she promised. "Even if you decide to do other things, I'll see you often."

"Yes, ma'am," Sam said, grinning at her before he darted around the table and latched to her, hugging the stuffing out of her. "It was really hard to pick, Miss 'Tasha."

Natasha smiled and kissed the top of his head. "I know."

"If we coulda picked both, we woulda."

"I know," she agreed, then let her voice drop. "If you like, I can be your aunt instead. That is what I call Logan, after all."

"Really?" Sam asked, wide-eyed.

Natasha smiled and nodded. "Really."

"Yes, please," he said softly, snuggling in a little tighter.

"I think that's a great idea," Jean said, even as she snuggled Josh with a look that clearly said how  _thrilled_ she was with the whole thing. "Aunt Natasha will always be invited anytime she wants."

Scott was smiling hard as he scooped Paige up into a hug as well. "We're working on the paperwork right now, so it won't be official for a little while longer," he said. "Do you think you can wait a couple weeks? Just until Jean and I finish getting everything set to change  _her_ name too," he added with a smirk.

"Yeah, we can wait for that," Sam said before he leaned forward slightly. "I think Mr. Clint will need it broke to him easy."

Scott couldn't help but laugh - especially when Natasha leaned forward to touch noses with Sam and whisper, "I'll handle that."

He beamed at her and then wrapped her up in another tight hug. "Oh good. I don't wanna see 'im cryin'."

Natasha smirked. "If he cries, I'll just have to cheer him up somehow," she said. "What do you suggest?"

"A baby," Paige said with a grin. "He likes babies!"

Natasha froze - which had Jean laughing this time when she could hear the mental brakes being applied. "I… don't think I can do that on such… short notice," she said at last, trying to be delicate.

"That's okay!" Paige said. "I tol' him it took a loooong time for Josh to be borned."

"He'd want to be married first," Natasha said, looking for a way to slow this train down before Clint  _heard_ about it.

"Oh! Then marry 'im!" she said, grinning widely. "He'd like that too! Oooh! Can I be flower girl?"

"Yes. Well." Natasha blinked a few times before she cleared her throat. "I'll make you a deal," she said at last. "If Clint and I decide to get married, you'll throw flowers. But he has to agree to it first."

"Oh, he'll agree to it," Sam said, nodding sagely.

"You don't miss anything, do you, Sam?" Jean said with obvious affection in her voice.

"Nope! That's another reason it was hard to not wanna be a Hawkeye!"

"Oh, I bet you still can be," Jean said. "I bet Mr. Clint will let you use his name when he gets older."

"He went by 'Golden Archer' for a while; he isn't terribly possessive of the name," Natasha chuckled.

"Sounds like a burger place," Sam said with his face scrunched up.

Natasha burst out laughing. "Yes. Yes it does." She wrapped Sam up in a hug and kissed his temple. "Now, my smart little star… will you help us talk to the other children? They may need help making hard decisions too, and I'm sure they could use hugs."

Sam nodded - and with that, the kids dispersed, ready to give out hugs - and to celebrate with all the kids that chose new families, too.

Most of them had, too. Or were, at the very least deeply considering who to go to. It was no secret, of course, that Peter had hoped Tony would adopt him, but he was also holding his breath, waiting for Tony to  _invite_ him like the Scott and Jean had done with the Guthrie kids.

On the other hand, Kitty and Jubilee were of the opposite mind - rushing right to Logan rather than wait for him, halfway tripping over themselves to get there.

"You gotta 'dopt us!" Kitty insisted, grabbing one of Logan's hands while Jubilee had the other and was bouncing in place.

"They said we could pick!'

"And we want you!"

Logan clearly wasn't expecting  _anyone_ to even consider him, so he was more than a little taken off guard. "Don't you girls want a proper family?"

"Yep!" Kitty grinned up at him. "That's why we want to go together. We can be sisters!"

"You'd still be missin' a mother," Logan pointed out. "An' last I checked those were pretty important."

"Yeah, but we got lots of people here," Kitty said.

"Yeah, an' we got K!" Jubilee said.

"But we talked it over, and we want  _you_ to be our dad."

" _Not_ Tony," Jubilee said, making a face.

"So we'll just go with you and then we'll have K too," Kitty said. "See?"

Logan let out a breath at that then closed his eyes for a moment, shaking his head. "How is  _this_ what you girls talk about?"

"Well, they  _asked_ us to pick who we want," Jubilee said. She rolled her eyes. "And we want you! Duh!"

Logan really didn't have a way to argue with them - and he wasn't going to even consider saying no to their faces - even if he was sure this was a mistake of massive proportions. "We'll see what they can come up with. Don't know if I even qualify."

Jubilee and Kitty shared a look before they both simply attached to him. "Please oh please oh please?" Kitty chanted.

"I toldja I'd see what can be done." Logan crouched to give both of them a one-armed hug at the same time. "Now go on. I'm sure you two got somethin' better to do."

"Okay!" Jubilee said. "I can't wait to be sisters!"

Logan watched them go, but when he stood up and turned, it was to find Kurt standing there, watching the whole thing. "How you doin', Elf?"

Kurt frowned for a moment and then nodded to himself. " _Mir gehts gut_ ," Kurt muttered.

"You got smoke comin' outta your ears, kid." Logan smirked. "You puttin' a lotta thought into it, or you got somethin' in mind already?"

"Well…" Kurt shifted. "I don't want anyone to think I don't  _want_ them."

"Who'd be that dumb?" Logan was smirking at him as he said it. "Pretty sure you'd tell someone if they irritated you."

Kurt nodded. "I just do not know if I can choose a favorite," he said. "I love K but you as well and also Jan and Natasha and … everyone."

"So be smart and pick who you'd want to be your  _parent_. Ain't supposed to be about favorites."

Kurt shifted his weight from one foot to the other before he nodded. "Then perhaps … I… I have an idea," he said at last. "Will you go with me?"

"Sure," Logan agreed, already headed his way. "Whatcha thinkin'?"

"I was thinking… I know everyone here loves me and will protect me. But I think if I want to find a  _guardian_ … then I would like Charles to teach me how to be like the X-Men,  _ja_?"

Logan smirked at that and nodded. "That's a great idea."

"I don't know what he will say," Kurt admitted. "Everyone is picking … well, Charles is already in charge of the school. What use does he have for, well…"

"One way to find out," Logan said. "Just ask 'im. Worst that can happen is he'd say no then you'd be defaulted to the Summers."

Kurt made a face. "Would I  _have_ to?"

"Nah. I wouldn't leave ya hangin'," Logan said, smirking. "Bobby needs someone too."

"Logan!"

Logan turned his way, still smirking. "Warren then?"

"You!" Kurt blurted out. "If Charles says no, then I want you!"

"Just givin' you some options," Logan said, smirking. "And if Charlie says no, you know I'm here. Hell, I'm here if he says yes, too." He rested his hand on Kurt's shoulder and steered him toward Charles' office, though as usual, he didn't need to knock as Charles invited them in as they got to the door.

He looked up at the two of them with a pleasant smile on his face. "What can I do for you today?" Charles asked as he folded his hands in his lap.

Kurt glanced nervously toward Logan and then toward Charles. "All of the kids are choosing parents," he explained slowly. "And I thought… maybe… if it was alright, I could choose you."

For a moment Charles looked openly surprised, but that quickly gave way to a warm smile. "I would be honored, Kurt."

Kurt smiled at that before he simply darted forward, and before Charles could react, there was a little boy in his lap giving him the warmest, softest hug he'd ever received.

And while Kurt was giving Charles a well deserved hug, Logan simply began to back out of the room silently to leave them in peace. His graceful exit was wrecked entirely however before he could close the door. Steve was being attacked by a small, blond haired boy, giggling madly.

When Teddy saw Logan, he started giggling even more. "Logan! I'm gonna be 'dopted!"

"Yeah? You pick him or did he pick you?" Logan asked, leaning against the wall as he watched the two of them.

"I picked him!" Teddy sang out happily. "Because I love him!"

Logan simply smirked at him and ruffled his hair as he passed them by. "Course you do. He's Captain America."

"Yeah, and he's  _Steve_." Teddy smiled. "I like Steve more than Captain America."

"Good," Logan said, letting his voice drop to nearly a whisper. "Me too." He offered Steve his hand to shake. "Looks like we've both been picked, Cap. Though, I'll admit to bein' a little surprised anyone'd pick a bachelor on purpose."

Steve smirked as he took Logan's hand. "We'll just have to help each other out."

"Have to see how it goes. Way I understand it, K managed to volunteer you to take Kurt to church - little heads up if they haven't hit you with it yet." He gave Steve a little wave as he headed toward the garage again. "And I got some repairs to make before Jan gets back from her trip. Already got the message she wants to hit somethin'."

"Yeah, I heard about that from Tony," Steve chuckled. "Never heard him that … worked up."

"Guy can't make up his mind," Logan muttered.

Steve smirked. "He'll get there," he said. "Gotta admit - he's in a tough spot if he's paying any attention. But … in the meantime, I guess I need to talk to Kurt about church. Apparently."

"Probably do ya some good. It's been what … sixty years since your last confession?" Logan teased.

Steve rolled his eyes at that. "These are the jokes, apparently."

"Hey. I got no room to talk, just pickin'."

Steve chuckled at that before he pulled Teddy up to sit on his shoulders - both of them grinning hard. "See you 'round," he said, with Teddy echoing him before they headed off together.

* * *

The mood of the place was bright - the kids were all finding hope in their new families, even if they were waiting on paperwork. In a few cases, it was going to be more complex than in others … most of them of course revolved around Logan and his girls, but the girls remained dead set on Logan as their guardian, even if he couldn't understand it at all.

And though it was frustrating, there were other bits of paperwork that were going by quickly. Particularly those that Tony was specifically asking to be pushed through by his team of lawyers.

But when Tony got the ones he was waiting for on his desk, he was in a great mood. All he needed to do now was find K… or,  _Lilja_ as all the paperwork stated.

* * *

K had taken to spending her spare time out at the barn when she could get away from the kids and the hero-ing and the … people. So.  _Many_. people. So that's where she was, quietly picking up - sweeping the loose hay out of the aisle as the school's horses munched and crunched away on their breakfasts. It was definitely the one part of the day that had her able to remember  _who_ she was at her core. Which was hard to come by with all the kids and whatnot.

"Hey, gorgeous," Tony called out with a totally pleased-looking grin on his face.

"Well you're in fine form already," K called back. "Lovely to see …"

Tony grinned. "Just wait 'til you see what my team cooked up," he said, waving the paperwork in one hand.

"Did Steve get my teeth marks tattooed on his arm? That would be fun to see." K put the broom away and headed over to him. "What's this?"

"Katie's papers," Tony explained, his grin somehow wider as he said it. "They sent up some for the other kids too. Some of them, not all. Yet. The little Guthries were easy enough, even with three of them…"

"Already?" she said, looking honestly surprised.

"Never doubt my team of professionals, honey," Tony said easily.

"Oh, I'm not that stupid. I just thought there was a boatload of hoops to jump through."

"I'm sure there was, but you know, it helps to have my name to speed things along," Tony said with a smirk.

"You really love throwing your weight around, don't you?" K asked before she popped up to steal a long kiss.

Tony grinned and pulled her closer to make the kiss more involved than it had started out. "Impressed yet?"

"With a fist full of papers? We'll see."

Tony chuckled and handed them to her. "Go on, then."

"You're just hoping I'll drag you up to the hayloft," K accused, though she made her way over to take a seat on one of the stacked up bales. "Which sounds like a great idea to me." She waved him over to sit with her and Tony complied with a grin, making sure she could lean against his chest as he looked over her shoulder, one arm around her waist. K turned her head to steal a quick kiss then took a moment to get more comfortable before she started reading through - and it all looked pretty straightforward until, of course, she got down to the signature pages. She paused and frowned before she backtracked a few pages, searching for Katie's name … which was changed as part of the paperwork from Bishop to Stark. "Wait. What ... " she flipped back to the signature pages to find that right along side Katie's name change was a line for Tony to sign as well. "I don't think I follow."

"I know, lots of legalese," Tony said, completely missing the point as he leaned over K with a smile and landed a little kiss behind her ear. "But it's all done up right, and you know, I figured we could tell her together. Give her a little more stability that way, and honestly, she's been getting along pretty well with me lately."

"I'm sure it's perfectly legal, but I was under the impression that there were only two names as parents on these things if there was … you know. A  _marriage_."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Well, yeah, that's the  _traditional_ way, but it's not strictly necessary. I was just thinking … I mean, for Katie, right? She needs two parents, and that's … that's where we're headed eventually…." It was obvious Tony was not expecting that reaction. "It's not … it wasn't a proposal. If that's where you've got your wires crossed. Let me tell you, honey - you'd know if it was a proposal. I'm not that subtle."

"No. No that's not ... " K closed her eyes and let out a breath. "Did you run this past Katie?"

"Well, not exactly," Tony admitted. "I just sort of figured with you and I going along as well as we are, might as well look ahead so she's got stability no matter what our  _titles_ are, you know? Boyfriend, girlfriend, whatever - kid needs a family. We're not going anywhere, might as well find a way to make sure she  _feels_ like she's got the stability. That's what the prof was saying anyhow."

K turned and watched him for a moment then shook her head before she gave him a long kiss. "You're right. Of course you are. But … for this ... " K sighed. "Sweetheart, this is one of the things you ask about first. I know you like to put on a big show, but for as easy as you pushed that through,  _if_ we ever get that far, it won't be any problem for you to make it happen fast again. So … thank you for being sweet, but I can't sign joint adoption papers with anyone I'm not married to." She rested one hand on his chest. "And no. That was not me jockeying for something bigger. By the way."

Tony blinked at her for a moment. "I… don't think you'd be that subtle," he said at last, trying for a little smile, though it was obvious he didn't know how to react.

"I wouldn't push you," K told him. "It's not my job to chase."

"Yeah, well, that's what I've been doing," Tony pointed out. "And I figured it was going well, right?"

"It  _is_ ," K agreed. "But I don't think we've quite gone from dating to parenting yet. It's only been a few months since I left the dirty little secret category, after all."

"Even with all the practice parenting that we've had?"

"That's more like babysitting. And you are superb in that department." K smiled lightly at that and moved slightly so she was facing him better in his arms. "I'm in no big rush for that part, Tony. Katie is a special case. I have no choice, remember? Gotta give the kids what they want. And … she kind of thinks I'm her mom."

"Right. Well." Tony nodded. "Well, I can just have them … re-issue it with one name. Not a problem. Easy peasy. Totally doable."

"Tony ... " K said, trying to get a little bit of his cheer back. "You want me to tackle you in the hay loft?"

"I wouldn't say no…"

"Alright … but if it's not going to cheer you up …"

"What if I say I need a bit  _more_?" Tony asked, a little smile at the corner of his mouth - though he was now  _trying_ to look sadder.

"I wouldn't say no to you. There's always more attached to a tackle," she said. "But if I need to spell it out, that takes out all the fun."

Tony smirked and pulled her into a tight, long kiss. "Yeah, words are overrated."


	48. Girl Talk

The romp in the hayloft had been fun - and as an extra bonus, it most definitely took Tony out of his comfort zone with just the  _setting_ though he caught up quickly enough. Of course … K could see that he was still a little thrown when all was said and done, and it honestly had her rethinking all of it.

She didn't  _like_ to see him upset like that, and she knew that she'd pushed a button. She just had no idea what to do about it. For the first time in her long life, K's first instinct wasn't to just … run when faced with a hopeful and serious suitor. But knowing that? Knowing she didn't want to run had her panicking just a little bit.

She made her way up to the house - taking a separate path than Tony had, of course. Not that they were hiding anything … just … that she wanted the distance from him. But … not  _too_ far. K shook her head at herself and her own line of thinking. She needed some outside source- someone else to weigh in on all this.

As she made her way through the house, the different scents hit her nose one by one. And she dismissed each source as she went through them. No, she wasn't close to any of the X-Men, so none of them would be trustworthy enough to talk to about her own  _personal_ issues. She paused on seeing Charles sitting near a window with a cup of tea, but as she watched him, her internal voice ticked and stammered for a moment, causing her to jerkily move on as he finally turned her way with a questioning look. Nope. That wasn't going to happen either.

She saw a flash of Janet - who was quick to paste on a smile and wave at her, and K returned the favor - while moving just a little bit faster. That … was just more than a little awkward. She was just about to say to hell with it and just … run anyhow when she heard Wanda's laughter down the hall and every single muscle in K's body relaxed minutely.  _Wanda._

K blew out a cleansing breath and then started toward Wanda's voice. The Scarlet Witch was seated with the tall, ebony goddess and the two of them were discussing all of the affairs of the house at large. She came to a rest in the doorway, her hands in her back pockets as she leaned against the door jamb. "Got room for one more?" K asked easily, sure to keep her body language relaxed. She knew Wanda wouldn't be able to decipher it, but she didn't know how intuitive Ms. Munroe was … and the towering white-haired woman's natural stature made K feel tiny in comparison anyhow.

"Are you kidding?" Wanda laughed. "Of course. There's always room for you. It's been kind of lonely without you, honestly."

"I've been here," K defended.

"You've been  _distracted_  by a certain handsome billionare," Wanda shot back, then tipped her head to the side when she realized that K wasn't entirely relaxed. "Do you … need a minute?"

K glanced between the two women and held her breath as she finally started closer to them. "I think … I need someone to talk me out of running," K said finally, which got a surprised look from Storm and a look of clear alarm from Wanda.

Wanda was on her feet before Ororo could react. "What happened?" She didn't let K get the chance to back out before she wrapped her arms around her. "Come on. Tell me what happened, and remember you'll break Vision's heart if you disappear."

K couldn't help but laugh at that as she returned Wanda's hug. "I'm sure I'll be fine, I know I  _can't_ take off without screwing up Katie-"

"You absolutely can't leave without her," Storm cut in.

"No, that's what I was saying. I can't … do that to her." K let out a breath. "I just … need someone to tell me I'm being an idiot and to calm down. He's a  _good man_. I know he is. It's just … complicated."

"What did he do?" Wanda almost demanded and to K's surprise, both Wanda and Ororo were already pulling her into the room and making it a more private conversation.

"He just … got ahead of himself," K said, trying to reassure Wanda that Tony wasn't actually doing anything  _wrong_. "There were papers -"

"The adoption papers? Already?" Wanda said then waved one hand. "Of course he pushed that through. Why am I even surprised."

"No, he had name change papers in the stack," K said, trying to get Wanda to slow down.

"For who?" Ororo asked, and all at once, Wanda's mouth dropped and her eyes widened.

"K -"

"The name change papers were for Katie," K said, holding up both hands. "He had them draw up the pages to change her last name to Stark." Ororo looked as if she couldn't believe her ears and Wanda let out a little shocked sound. "And he had himself on the adoption papers alongside me."

"I didn't realize the two of you were so serious," Ororo said, still unblinking as she continued to study the little feral.

"I didn't either," K defended. "He just … dropped this on me. And he didn't ask Katie either- and she'd kind of on the fence about him, if I'm being honest."

"Wait. He just decided this on his own," Wanda said shaking her head as she worked it out. "So he is  _really_ serious, K. This … is new territory with him. I can't even give you advice."

By that time, K was unconsciously wringing her hands as she looked between the two women. "I told him to change it. Said I can't … not … with someone I'm not married to- but I made sure he knew I wasn't  _fishing_."

"That's good!" Wanda said. "You need to set your boundaries with him or he'll run you over."

"Exactly," K agreed, gesturing to her. "And I don't  _like_ to turn him down. He means well, I know he does … and telling him no is like beating on a  _puppy_."

"You're exaggerating," Ororo said, smiling at the image.

"No, I'm really not," K said, shaking her head. "He's … he's got a good heart."

"Oh," Wanda said, nodding slowly as her smirk began to stretch into a smile. "You love him."

"I think I do," K replied. "I just … don't want to do anything permanent. We haven't been datin for long."

"How long were you two sneaking around?" Ororo asked.

"That … doesn't really count the same," K said, shaking her head.

"Yes, it does, actually," Ororo argued. "You've been intimate with him for  _months._ " She turned her attention to Wanda. "How long have your friends been sleeping together?"

"Almost a year, I think," Wanda said. "Which is a big  _big_ deal for him."

"But that's all perfectly normal," Ororo said with a little frown. "Don't tell me that our fearless little troublemaker is afraid of a smitten  _Tony Stark_."

K drew in a breath and whirled around to face her, pointing one finger her way. "That … is an oversimplification."

"Or you're making it more complex than it has to be," Ororo argued. Before K could argue her point, Ororo stood up and smiled K's way. "Let's look at the facts, shall we? You've been seeing this man in one regard or another for well over a year. You've saved his life multiple times during that period of time. Disregarding all of the opinion of his friends around him, he took his own chances by continuing to carry on with you -  _knowing_ full well that his teammates and  _ours_ wanted to capture you."

"She's right. He aided and abetted," Wanda chimed in before Ororo continued.

"And now that you've been accepted by who he considers family - his team - he's comfortable enough to want to up his game." Ororo smiled warmly. "I don't see a problem. I see a man who is going out of his way to show you how he  _feels_. And seeing as how he feels has been showcased by the offer to be the  _father_ to your adoptive daughter, I think he's being crystal clear on what he would like to have happen next."

" _But …_ seeing as you're not ready, you did the right thing," Wanda cut in. "If he can't handle going a little slower, he'll be a pain, and then you have my full backing to drop him like a hot potato. But you might want to try him out before that happens." K let out a bark of a laugh. "NO, not what I mean … I mean … really see what it's like to be on his arm. The war is over, but that doesn't mean that the world isn't interested in what he's up to."

"That's a fine point. He's a public figure," Ororo said, nodding slowly. "And you'd want to be sure there wasn't a problem with being in the public eye."

"Oh, I don't know that's the biggest problem though," Wanda said. "I'm sure he'd try to disappear from the spotlight if that was a deal breaker. Only make scheduled appearances … alone if need be."

"You two are already taking this further than I was hoping - and not helping me at all," K cut in. "We haven't gone  _out_. Not like that."

"So he's protecting you still," Ororo said with a sly sort of smile that had K staring at her.

"I … need to go."

"Yes, think it over and try out being in public on purpose," Wanda called after her. "I'll bet that would  _really help_ mutant-human relations!" She was cackling to herself before K got all the way to the hall and she turned to give Wanda a dry look. "What? You're both overly popular with your own subspecies-"

"Oh my God."

"- so maybe you can look at it like a diplomatic thing."

"Good night, Wanda!" K shouted, moving toward the stairs.

"Negotiations would be  _rough, I'm sure!"_ Wanda called back. "No one would buy when you're calling each other by your titles,  _Mrs. Stark._ "

"I hate you, Wanda!"

"Love you too!"

* * *

Tony had simply made a few phone calls after he left the barn - much later, and with his suit more than a little crumpled. Not that he was complaining about  _that_ part. But he just didn't feel much like dealing with the lawyers or even making the request anywhere near face to face after that, so instead, he simply headed down to the little lab to tinker - and clear his head. That … really hadn't gone as planned. Which … when he thought about it, he could see his mistake. She was right. He was moving too fast - getting ahead of himself. Like he always did when he was running with an idea that had taken over his focus.

When he got to the lab, no one was there, so he was quick to burn the first set of papers, which … really. If he was being honest, she was right. If they were going to be a family unit, then it would make sense to have the adoption papers with  _his_ name on them ready once  _her_ name was changed too. So he put the papers in the incinerator one by one, watching them torch as he thought it over. Every one of them that was done wrong - all but the name change for Katie, that is. There was no reason to make the lawyers do the same papers exactly the same twice, after all. And K didn't say it wasn't going to happen. Just … that it had to happen in the right order. By the time he was done, he wasn't in the mood to go back to the office and put the paperwork where he normally would. So he left them on the desk for the time being and took a moment to change into some jeans and a tee before he started tinkering with the music cranked up.

But that didn't last overly long … he had no idea how long it had been before the music dropped down right in the middle of an old tune from  _The Clash_. "Hey! Music!" Tony called out as he looked up. "Oh. Hi, Jan."

"Oh my gosh, Tony - what did you do? It smells like  _smoke_ in here," Jan said, waving her hand in front of her face as she ducked into the lab.

"Um … small fire. Nothing hazardous," he called out, drawing up one corner of his mouth tightly as he went back to his project, though now as he was looking at it he really wasn't in the mood. "Took care of it."

"Not missing an eyebrow or anything, are you?" she teased, flouncing over to jump up on his desk, her legs dangling over the side as she checked him for burnt eyebrows.

He spun on his stool to face her and made a face. "Um … I don't think so, I hope not. I hate being lopsided."

"I could paint it on for you," she giggled. "Bright green. Teddy would  _love_ it."

Tony pulled a face at that and tossed a paperclip at her. "Mean spirited."

"What? No!" Jan put a hand over her heart. "No, for your information, I came down here to  _sing your praises_. The Guthries got the paperwork you had your team work up and there is a small explosion of happy future-Summerses upstairs!"

"Oh, good. That's what I try to do."

"And we all love you for it," Jan said with a wide smile. "Keep it up and the whole world will know you're not so secretly a big softie."

"Now that  _is_ mean spirited. That's not public knowledge." he shrugged to himself. "I can always blame Pepper. Her fault."

"No, no," Jan insisted. "You're a big, snuggly, sweetheart. Own it! Love it. Work it." She giggled and picked a bit of hay out of his hair. "And I'm not the only one who thinks you are either. Clearly."

But that had his smile slipping a little bit. "If that's what they say, who am I to argue?" He pushed back from one work bench and and headed for the one across the lab where he was working on his arc reactors again. They needed a tweak from the way his chest hurt, he was pretty sure. "Are you designing today or just … spreading good cheer? I'm not complaining either way, so you know."

"Oh, well, both," she said. "I got the materials I need for Jean's dress this morning. Showed her my sketches and she loves it. Naturally." She brushed her knuckles off on her shoulder. "Because I am the best. And everyone for miles around will be jealous of Scott when they see the  _goddess_ I make out of Jean."

"Make sure it's flame retardant!" Tony called out as he popped the housing off of the new prototype.

"Are you planning on starting more fires?" Jan shot back.

"No, I just meant you're dealing with the Phoenix. Who knows how that works. I'd be sure she'd get mad though if her dress burnt away before the ceremony was over."

"Not after, though," Jan said with a giggle as she hopped down off the desk - and jostled some of the papers there.

"Nope, that would defeat the purpose."

"Oh, totally," Jan said, though now she was distracted as she put the papers back on the desk… and saw what one of them was. "Oh. Oh  _wow_." She blinked at the paper with her back to Tony for a moment before she caught up to herself and put on a wide smile. "Tony, I didn't know you were going to adopt Katie too! That's great news!"

"Ah, well ... " he hedged, shrugging one shoulder up. "I'm … not.  _Yet._ "

"Well, yeah, I saw it's just the paperwork and not finalized or anything, but still!" She grinned a little wider. "You're going to be a family man!"

"Kinda got to get that cleared first," Tony said. "So I've been told."

"Well, I think it's sweet," Jan said. "You'll be an amazing dad, Tony. You really will."

He smirked at her and nodded his head. "Guess we'll have to wait and see."

Jan nodded and then bounced over to throw her arms around his neck and give him a solid hug. "I'm totally jealous," she said. "Just so you know. I  _have_ to be your go-to babysitter, okay?"

"I have to get the girls on board first," Tony said.

"Oh, you haven't… " Jan scrunched he nose up at that, though she still had her hand on his arm. "I thought the kids were picking!"

He shook his head slowly at that. "I might have jumped the gun a little bit."

Jan bit her lip and then let her shoulders drop. "Well… well,  _you_ are amazing, Tony. Even if you get ahead of yourself." She stood on her toes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I get it. I did the same thing with Hank. Get too excited and ahead of myself. But I hope they catch up to you. You're  _Tony_. You'll be amazing."

"Not as amazing as the  _Wasp_ ," he shot back before he quickly returned her hug from earlier. "Thanks, Jan. I won't admit it to anyone else, but I kinda needed the backup."

Jan beamed at him. "Anytime." She gave him one more hug before she stepped back and waved. "Well. I have a wedding dress to work on. Try not to burn down the lab!" she called out.

"Yeah, I'm done burning things, thanks," Tony called.

"The offer of green eyebrows is eternal, Tony."

"Please. You know I look better in red."

"It's for Christmas. For the kids. In a few months. Totally necessary. I don't make the rules here," Jan said as she walked backward toward the door before she dashed out - barely keeping it together as long as she could.

Logan had just come in - and was staring at a few places in the garage, considering where he needed to hide things since Remy had been getting into his stash. And he wasn't in the mood to feed  _his_ habit. He had the box of bottles under his arm, still considering it when Jan stepped out into the garage.

"Oh! Good." Jan made a dash for Logan and tapped the box. "Mine."

"Maybe one," Logan said. "But that's it. Why? What happened now?"

Jan blinked at Logan for a second before she bit her lip and shook her head. "Not … here," she said. "Not where  _little ears_ are."

Logan nodded at that. "Alright. We goin' to the bar or are we makin' our own bar?"

"Our own, please," Jan said, already pushing Logan toward the Jeep as she tried to inject a little cheer into her voice. "Just you and me! It'll be fun!"

Logan agreed easily and put the box full of bottles right back where they'd been before then took a moment to head to the cabinet full or parts to grab a few blankets he'd had stashed in there, too. "Feel like a fire this time?"

"Um. No. No, I don't feel like fire. At all. Thanks."

"Well if you get to drivin' like you did before, I'm gonna need a fire to breathe before we head back," Logan said, tossing the blankets around the bottles where he had them tucked in behind the backseat. "Swear to God you're gonna tear the clutch clean out." But he still tossed her the keys all the same before he climbed into the shotgun position.

At first, Jan just drove out as far away from people as she could like she was on a  _mission…_ And then once they were far enough out… she put the Jeep in park and then turned to Logan, holding out a hand. "Okay. Gimmie."

He turned and pulled out two bottles - one for her and the first of his for himself. "You gonna tell me what's got you drinkin'?"

"Tony." Jan popped open her bottle and then just… stared at it. "He's got the paperwork drawn up for… for  _Katie Stark_."

Logan did a full on double take at that. " _What_."

"It's not for right now," Jan said. "He said the girls still need to agree, but… but he has it all ready for when they do."

"If," Logan corrected as he opened up his bottle. "If, not when."

"I don't know, Logan. You see them and how they  _are_ and… and Tony  _really_ wants this I just  _know it_  and- and-" She shook her head and took a long drink. "I hate this."

"She's gotta want it too," Logan said. "And Katie has to clear it. Last I heard, she wasn't too impressed with Iron Man. No offense."

"Yeah. Well." Jan let out a huff and then simply leaned over to rest her head on Logan's shoulder. "I'll get over it. Eventually. Probably."

They were quiet for a long while after that. "You sure that's what you saw?"

"Very."

Logan was staring ahead right along with her as they drank. "And you think it's gonna go through."

"Unless they suddenly stop being so… _involved_ " Jan waved a hand. "Which they won't."

"Damn," he said in a breath before he settled in a little more comfortably than before. "Sorry to hear it."

"Yeah." Jan let out a long breath. "...yeah."


	49. Playing Dress Up And House

What K didn't know while she was following Ororo and Wanda's advice was that Ororo had been sure to let Logan know what had been said between the three women - once she'd found him that is.

The drinking session with Jan did end up ending with a bonfire in the woods - and Jan had been entirely miserable as Logan wrapped her in a blanket and took the empty bottle from her once the fire had started to die out. She was drunk enough that she simply curled in when Logan carried her to the Jeep to head back - though he was entirely too sober for his own liking.

Logan was halfway up the stairs - still carrying Jan - when Ororo found him to fill him in. "I don't have time right now, 'Ro, and I'm not feelin' too social."

Ororo raised an eyebrow at that and tipped her head, though that only had Logan pausing to give her a dry look. "She needed someone to keep an eye on her when she was blowin' off some steam," he told her. "I just made sure she didn't do anything to permanently hurt herself."

Ororo fell into step with him and when they got to Jan's room, she opened the door held it for him as he carried Jan to her bed. "Wait!" Jan said when she felt herself going flat. "I'm not done drinking!"

"Darlin'," Logan said doing his best to look serious. "You keep drinkin' and I'm gonna have to spend the rest of my night rubbin' your back while you throw it all back up."

"Ooh - no thank you," Jan said, resting her arm across her eyes.

"Lay on your side so I don't have to worry about you," Logan said, waiting for Jan to turn onto her side - and then he had to laugh when she immediately snuggled in when he covered her up.

"You're so good to make sure I'm  _comfy cozy._ "

"Sleep it off, Jan," Logan said as she simply snuggled in deeper, already well on her way to asleep.

The two X-Men stepped out of Jan's room, and Logan pulled the door shut behind them, though when Ororo opened her mouth, Logan held up a hand. "I don't want to hear whatever it is you girls were chatting about."

"I think you might," Ororo argued. "It involves the new girl."

"Goodnight, Ro." Logan started to stalk off, but it was still a bit too early in the evening for her to simply raise her voice for him.

" _Logan_ ," Ororo said in a harsh whisper. "I'm trying to  _help you_."

But Logan didn't turn around or slow down as he went right for the stairs and back outside.

* * *

It was only a few days before K got an interesting wake up call. Katie had fallen asleep curled up next to K after a nightmare about monsters getting her and  _stealing her teddy bear_ which she had clutched tightly to her chest. K was still tired from staying up late - Katie had been  _so_ upset, all she could do was keep running her hand through Katie's hair and humming little tunes to the tiny girl. There were a few times that Katie had startled awake as she tried to sleep - with fresh tears streaming down her cheeks, though she wouldn't settle down until K hugged her tightly and promised that she was safe, if nothing else.

So by the morning light that was streaming through the curtains, K could see that the tear streaks were dried, but the salty paths were still easy to spot on her round little cheeks. Though she'd let go of K and had settled into bed, she still had a death grip on her teddy bear.

K got to her feet very carefully so as not to disturb Katie as she headed to the dresser to find some clothes. She'd only laid out her outfit for the day when the door to the hallway opened up and K turned to see Tony slipping in quietly - though he smiled when K's reaction was to smirk and simply start changing on the spot.

"I thought Katie was sleeping - that's why I was trying to be discreet," Tony said as he made his way over quickly to steal a kiss before she was changed.

"She is," K agreed, though she gladly let him slow her down as they got caught up for a moment. "What brings you to my  _boudoir_ this early, Mr. Stark?"

"Wanted to see if you were up to a thing tonight," he replied. "Pepper told me I've skipped too many events with the war on, and Wanda said you might be persuaded to join me …"

"Ah,  _Wanda's idea_ ," K said, though she didn't stop smiling through the stolen kisses. "What do you want me to wear?"

"I'm not so much a fan of playing dress up, but you know … I'm sure we can find a suitable costume - something with lots of lace …"

"For your event, Tony. What do you want me to wear? Where are we going?"

"Oh, right.  _That_. Black tie affair, your call of course. I've seen your taste in clothes. You'll blow everyone's doors off."

"I'll dig something up," she said, shaking her head.

"I can send Jan up, if you're short on dresses."

"I hate to pull her from her work when she's so wrapped up in Jean's wedding dress."

"Well I already mentioned it to her, and she's already got ideas, if you want a shopping buddy." He smiled and handed her a credit card. "On me. Whatever you like."

"Tony …" K was shaking her head at him, but it was hard to get mad when he was being  _sweet._

"I've got Katie," Tony said. "Really. Go ahead, I just have to throw a suit on, pick out a watch. It's not as intense as you girls deal with. And I really wanted to take Katie out to breakfast."

"Are you sure?" K asked, but instead of answering, he simply leaned in and stole a long kiss that was only broken up when Jan let out a little squeak at the door a few moments later.

"Isn't there a little kid here?" Jan asked - obviously red-faced as K finished getting dressed.

"She's asleep," K said glancing over to where yes, Katie was still curled up and snoozing peacefully. "I hate to ask, but … until just now it looked like you might have been looking forward to a shopping trip? I can go alone if you don't want to-"

"No! No, I want to see what kind of taste you have," Jan said, then started to laugh. "In clothes, of course."

"Of course," K agreed before she popped up to steal a more crowd-appropriate kiss - and Tony made  _sure_ she had his card in her back pocket.

"You girls have fun," Tony said, settling in once he got the coffee pot started. "Katie and I are going to have a good time, too."

K and Jan stepped out of the room, and had barely made it to Jan's car when K turned her way. "You really don't have to do this," she said. "I know you have more pressing matters with the wedding …"

"Oh no, no! No!" Jan said. "I doubt he even told you which event this is, did he? No, of course not because Tony doesn't pay attention to those things - and I want to make sure that the press doesn't treat you horribly if you're going with him. Which isn't …"

"I really don't care about public opinion."

"Good! But that doesn't mean you'll like it if they're nasty to you either. You really can't tell how you'll take something like  _that_ until it happens - and you don't want to go in unprepared." Jan nodded to herself and it was quiet in the car for a long moment. "Did he even let you get coffee?"

"No," K said, shaking her head. "Would you mind terribly if we -"

"I didn't get much either, coffee first, then we can talk about dresses. Do you have a preference on designers?" Jan looked lke she was almost cringing waiting for the answer.

"I prefer Chanel.  _Never_ Dior," K said. "But obviously, the house hasn't been the same since  _Madame_ died …"

"Oooh, yes. We'll get along just fine," Jan said with a nod and a growing smile. It was clear that K having even a little fashion sense was a relief, and even though she didn't say it out loud, Janet wouldn't have been able to handle it if K had been completely clueless when it came to something so important.

And anyhow … it might make it easier if she could relate to this girl that Tony was so hung up on. That way anyhow … she wouldn't get lost in the wash when things got more serious with them.

* * *

Tony had barely gotten through a cup of coffee as he read through his messages before Katie got up, looked around K's bedroom and called out in a tentative voice "Mom?"

"She's shopping, kiddo," Tony called out before he leaned back so Katie could see him. "Thought we could go out to breakfast. Your pick. My treat."

Katie scrunched up her nose and narrowed her eyes, watching him cautiously. "Where's my  _mom_?"

"She's getting herself a pretty dress for tonight," Tony said honestly. "I'm going to take her out to a big party. Figure she can knock everyone dead with how pretty she is."

Katie smirked at that. "She  _is_ pretty …."

"And so are you," Tony said, still smiling easily. "So … whenever you're ready, say the word and we'll head out."

"Only if I can  _drive_."

Tony paused, unsure if Katie was pulling his leg or not. It really was a fifty-fifty shot. "You're not quite tall enough for that."

"But I wanna  _drive_."

"When you're big enough, I'll get you your first car," Tony said, smirking. "But today, the best I can offer is breakfast, some toys, get you a pretty dress if you want, too …"

"Can it be  _purple_? Because I don't want it if it's not  _purple._ "

"Anything you want," Tony agred, and a moment later, Katie got out of bed, made her way to the bedroom door, looked up at him with a serious look and slammed the door in his face.

"Just a minute!" she sang out, giggling to herself, and when she came out a moment later, she had on a purple dress with her shoes on the wrong feet, dragging her bear behind her.

And for the most part, their little morning went well. After a mountain of pancakes, Tony held good on his promise and took her out to get some new toys and clothes, a few costumes, and Katie was having a ball … until of course, Tony made one more offer.

He'd picked up a new, fluffy purple teddy bear. "What do you think, Katie?"

And that seemed to be the tipping point for her. Her eyes widened and she clutched the bear to her chest tightly, shaking her head minutely. "NO!"

"Are you sure?"

"NO!" But even when he put it back, Katie was sure to keep a little distance, stepping backward when he stepped forward.

"I think you crossed a line, boss," Happy said, smirking down at Katie when she bumped into his knee, then hid behind him, holding on to his jacket.

"No kidding," Tony replied, completely confused by Katie's change in demeanor. "Hey, no problem, Katie, I promise. It was just a suggestion." he held up both hands and let Happy lead the way to take her back, though she was clearly upset, still holding tight to her ratty teddy bear.

When they returned to the Institute, Katie bolted - clearly looking for K as she ran, and when she found her - with Wanda, who was working on her hair - she latched on hard, burying her face in K's stomach.

When Tony caught up, he looked relieved to see them both. "We had a little incident," he admitted. "I offered to get her a new bear and …"

"Ah," K said, nodding as she wrapped Katie up. She gave Katie a little squeeze and waited for her to settle down just a bit. "You know he wouldn't  _take_  your bear, right? He just wanted to get you  _more."_

Katie snuggled tightly for a moment longer. "I already  _have_  a bear."

"True, but … maybe he could use a bath," K suggested. "He smells a little funky."

At that, Katie finally loosened her grip on both K and the bear. " _Maaaybe_ ," she said with a great sniffle then zipped off to her room.

"Hard day playing Santa Claus?" K asked as Wanda went back to fixing up K's hair.

"Just with the bear, but this …" Tony smirked crookedly as he gave her a clear once over and stole a kiss that ended when Wanda launched a bottle of hairspray at him. "Hey. It's a date. There's no reason for me not to be here."

"Except that you're  _distracting_ us," Wanda said. "We have work to do. Get out." With that, she concentrated hard and Tony found himself being pushed back as swirls of red danced around him.

"I can walk!"

"Not fast enough," Wanda said as Katie made her reappearance, giggling into her hand as she covered her mouth. The door shut behind Tony on its own and Katie made her way over to climb up in K's lap with her bear.

"Okay. We can give him a  _spa day_ ," Katie said. "But we gotta be gentle."

"Because he's special and old," K finished - which had Katie grinning wider before she started brushing out her bear's fur and singing to herself. Wanda and K shared a look as they went back to K's hair, deciding that they'd go back to figure out what had Katie so upset after she'd calmed down.

But … as Wanda started to hum to herself, again, red swirls danced, this time off the brush that Katie was using … and a moment later, the little girl let out a gasp as with every brushstroke, her bear got cleaner and fluffier. "Magic hairbrush!" Katie giggled, which got more of a grin from Wanda than she'd expected. Especially when Katie delightedly broke down into more giggles as she started working on the bear to make it new again.

* * *

None of their prepwork could help K's outlook on things when the press finally got their greenlight to report when Tony stepped out for his gala with K on his arm - and both of them looking amazing, of course. The paparazzi erupted into a flutter of flashes and shouted questions as Tony kept his usual aloof attitude, carefully pulling her along with him. There was no doubt that this wasn't a casual date - even to the most clueless observers. The body language alone …

The questions were of course, far out of line, but not to start with. Of course, Tony wasn't going to dignify the question of 'why a mutant' and he was outright ticked off at the insinuation that he was the lone reason that K wasn't backing Magneto - but that anger was dispelled quickly when K's only response to it was to smirk. She was clearly up to play with them, at least for now.

What he didn't know though was that K was furious with the questions that Tony  _couldn't_ hear. The reporters that weren't on the front lines knew they wouldn't get their questions in - and they'd taken to just being horrible. And she'd heard every insinuation … and marked the idiots who'd said them. Foul commentary on how the eye candy was getting passed around from one spandex wearing leader to the next - which had gotten a solid laugh only when one of the others pointed out "Well, at least this is the solid proof that Stark's in charge of the Avengers and not Captain America."

"At least according to the girl," another replied dryly. "Maybe she's after the money."

"At least it's not an X-Man," the first replied. "Though I'm curious on how long Stark will stick it out with a mutant for the team's benefit."

K kept her demure smile in place, though she could feel the growl at the back of her throat. She wasn't sure which wrong assumption had her more irritated, but just as she was ready to honestly break something, Tony slid his hand from her back to her waist, drawing her attention back to him as he led the way inside.

And inside, the elite of New York weren't much better in their assumptions and innuendoes, though they were at least more open about it. They kept their distance, unless, of course they had business with Tony - or ass kissing with Tony.

The remarks had shifted to  _how_ he could possibly be seen with a  _murderer_ and how shameful it was that he was screwing around with the woman who had killed his tech partner … when Janet came up and took a hold of K's elbow. "Want to get a drink?" she asked. "Let the boys talk, we can get away for a moment. Maybe some fresh air on the roof?"

"Is there someone I can throw off of it?" K asked, blinking innocently.

"We'll see who's brave enough to follow us," Janet said with a little smirk, though it was clear she knew all that was being said, including the running theories that with Tony's history, chances were very high that K was simply using him - and planning to wreck his career and reputation.

K gladly took her drink from the bar with Jan, and the two of them slipped up the stairs, past more than a few questionable men who gave both of them a more thorough once-over than either deserved. "You're wrecking your reputation being seen with me," K told Jan quietly.

"Please," Jan replied. "They'll talk trash about everyone. The trouble with you is that they only have Tony's past to go on, so they'll make it up as they please." She took a sip of her drink. "And considering that you  _were_ working with Magneto, and they're all human - and you know. Genetically underprivileged as far as the mutant population that's causing trouble is concerned …" she shrugged. "I mean. They are genetically underprivileged, just not how they  _think._ "

K didn't look overly amused though as the two of them continued to drink in relative quiet. It didn't take long for K to spot the rather impressive number of women giving her a slow once over - all of them looking clearly irate. "They're just the ones that he won't talk to on any given day," Jan said, leaning toward her. "They're sharks - trolling the waters. Looking for fresh, rich blood." She smirked and bumped K's shoulder with hers. "Too bad for them he's got good taste, right?"

"Sure," K said, though she was sure she wasn't going to be comfortable being around the worst humanity had to offer - even if they were dressed in the finest of linens and silks. It wasn't long before some of the sharks made their way over, and in moments, Jan was chatting with them as if they were old friends, and though K knew Jan didn't care for the women, she honestly couldn't stand the game Jan was up to, and when the women were latched on to something juicy to gossip over, K slipped away. She was making her way to somewhere quiet when Tony slipped up next to her and pulled her over.

"You ready to get out of here?" he asked quietly. "You disappeared on me."

"Not yet, I didn't," K countered, entertained when Tony tried and  _failed_ to hide the little smirk of pure amusement.

"One more pass in front of the cameras on the way out … then I swear, I'll make it up to you somewhere private," he said quietly, already guiding her to the exit.

"You're gonna end up hurting yourself trying to make it up to me," K said. "So … instead of looking at it that way, why not just tell me we'll start our evening elsewhere."

"Yes, that," Tony agreed just before they stepped out into the assault of flash bulbs.

* * *

After the gala, Jan more or less threw herself into working on the Summers' wedding. Particularly the dress. And the bridesmaids dresses for Storm and Jean's sister too. And the flower girl dress for Paige. It was just … hard to balance all of it …. It was one thing when K was a distant issue, and another entirely when the woman was going to functions with Tony … and Tony was clearly  _trying_ with Katie as hard as he was.

But … she simply had to remind herself that she had plenty to keep herself busy. She'd  _thought_ she had more or less put on the best face possible while having to deal with all the happy families and cute kids and  _Katie Almost-Stark_ …

At least, she had it under control until she was helping Jean try on her dress so they could be sure it fit just right and Jan found herself thinking about her own wedding dress and how  _that_ turned out horribly and wasn't it just typical that she was the first to get married and last to get a family…

"Are you okay?" Jean asked quietly when the others were distracted. She took a moment to put them in a little psychic bubble that sealed their conversation from anyone else around them. "They can't hear us."

Jan bit her lip and looked around. "I'm… I'm really fine. It's okay."

"That is  _not_ what you're projecting," Jean said gently. "What is this Katie almost-Stark business?"

"Oh." Jan let her shoulders fall. "It's just… Tony has it all drawn up so he can be Katie's dad when … you know. I guess when she and K get used to the idea of the whole… being a Stark. Thing."

"I didn't realize they were moving that fast. Do you want me to peek?" Jean offered. "Because I can. And I will. And I'm pretty sure that Katie isn't leaning that way at  _all_. Especially after the teddy bear snafu."

"Well, I don't think peeking is necessary … not right now, but when her mom is  _seriously_ dating Tony, it's just a matter of time, isn't it?" Jan asked quietly. "The way they're going… how  _smitten_ Tony is with her… it's just a matter of time."

"I can look and see," Jean said, frowning. "But from what I saw when I was burning through things ...and how Katie felt about Tony's generosity ... " she tipped her head. "I don't know."

Jan raised her eyebrows at that. "If you're just saying that to get my hopes up…"

"I don't do that. False hope is cruel."

"Okay, well." Jan bit her lip. "Well, what do  _you_ think?"

"I think K was surprised there was an honest interest at all," Jean said.

"Yeah, most people don't expect Tony to be the type to really settle down and - well -  _he_ doesn't even think that's who he is, but he totally wants it," Jan said, her eyes wide. "He just doesn't say it until he does big gestures like this, you know?"

"That's news to me - but he's hard for me to read," Jean admitted. "He's always thinking a dozen things at once at full speed…"

"That's Tony," Jan said with a warm smile.

"It's dizzying," Jean laughed. "I'm surprised he can tie his shoes half the time. But her … I don't think she knows what to do with him."

"Almost no one does," Jan said, her smile getting wider. "He's not that hard once you  _know_ , though. Really. He just wants to take care of everyone around him in a way that makes it seem like he doesn't  _actually_ care because he thinks no one will believe he cares anyway, so why not play into it, right? Such an idiot." She smiled fondly. "He only really drops it when he's head over heels, so for him to do something like this? He has it. Bad.  _So_ bad."

"I'll do a little digging for you," Jean said almost diplomatically. "Or … you could always ask Natasha. She's been watching K like a hawk."

"Oh. Well." Jan bit her lip. "I think that's because…." She trailed off, not wanting to reveal more than she should, though she didn't realize she was projecting that she and Logan were in the same boat.

Jean smirked at her. "I know," she said. "But she's been watching  _K_ \- and all I can tell you is that before we got the papers for the Guthries, there was a big backlash from Tony. Like the rug was pulled out from under him."

"Yes. Well. Yeah. I saw him in the lab and he seemed pretty thrown, yeah," Jan admitted.

"You know, he had a whole stack of papers when he went out to the barn to see her," Jean said quietly.

"I didn't know that."

"She hasn't been around me much. She's wary of telepaths, which is kind of silly since she's hard to peek into, but I'll try to see what happened."

"No, no," Jan said quickly. "No, you focus on your sweetheart and your new kids. I'll figure this out on my own." She smiled lightly. "I'll be okay either way. I've gotten used to disappointment."

"You deserve more than that, Jan." Jean smiled. "Besides. I like peeking."

"You can't help it, can you?" Jan asked with a small smile.

"I don't really want to help it - especially if it  _might_ involve Logan. He's one of my best friends. I want him happy too."

"It does," Jan said. "He's… been great for me. It helps to have - you know, misery is company."

Jean took a few steps closer and wrapped Jan up in a tight hug. "You are so loved here. You know that right?"

Jan smiled and returned the hug tightly. "Yeah. And you know I  _have_ to be Aunt Jan to your kids, right?"

"There is literally no other option."

"Oh good." Jan took a deep breath and then clapped her hands together. "Now. Let's focus on knocking your boy speechless, shall we?"

"Is that your way of saying I need help?" Jean teased before she let the others back into their conversation.

"Oh, I already know he'll be speechless when he sees you. I'm going for full-on  _mute for the duration_. I expect psychic-only conversations just to keep him going!" Jan giggled.

Jean was beaming and giggling at that. "With your design? Guaranteed."


	50. Stark Contrast

If anything, the number of galas and appearances has started to pick up now that the worst of the mutant-human conflict was getting further behind them. So the number of 'dress up nights' kept popping up since Tony knew K was game to go with him. He honestly didn't care for them any more than she did but … considering that many of them were being hosted by Stark Industries, he  _had_  to fulfill his social obligations.

It was just … he never really realized that the only thing that had kept him showing up at those things before was the fact that he  _had_  been looking for someone or  _someones_ to have a quick fling with. And now that he was  _comfortable_ and  _mostly_ relaxed in the actual adult relationship with K …

Tony was almost frowning to himself as he adjusted his tie in the mirror. He really would have preferred staying in and curling up with her watching movies with Katie and Peter- like they did most nights. But admitting it to K felt too much like showing all his cards - and the truth was that after she'd shut him down on Katie's name change, he was a little wary of trying again for anything serious so soon. Unfortunately for Tony, he really wasn't very good at  _waiting_ on anyone though. He'd gotten better over the course of the year or so that he'd been chasing K, but the truth was - it was easier to hold back when she was borderline a captive of Magneto. And now? Now she was  _right there_. And everyone knew it. And no one was giving them a hard time if they curled up together just to soak it up.

Going slow was just so  _hard_  when he was more or less getting what he wanted already.

Across the hall, K was putting on the finishing touches to her attire for the night. She was a little tired - and if she didn't heal and recover from everything as quickly as she did, she was very sure she'd have some serious bags under her eyes.

After their very first endeavor into the world of the press that Tony had grown up in, K had made a point to do what she did best. And every night, once the house was asleep, K had gone to Tony's laptop and started digging. Not on him, of course. No. But on every single one of those smug, vile reporters that thought they were safe hiding behind their veil of relative anonymity.

No one looked into the reporters while they dug and tried to find whatever they could to make the focus of their livelihood look bad. They were dealing in scandals where there was none, and though Tony said it didn't bother him … K knew it was a bald-faced lie. Even if he believed it, she could smell it on him. The fact that his anxiousness ticked up before every one of these events was only more proof of that fact.

So with a little work, she'd determined who, out of the pool was the worst offenders in horrible things said and written about Tony - and began digging on them. It had taken several appearances on the red carpet, but K was confident as she put on her gold eyeshadow that the tip offs to the more reputable news organizations would hit timing wise to dish it right back to them.

Especially considering that the worst offenders were doing things far far worse than Tony dating a questionable mutant. She'd been inside the Bugle when Jameson saw the dirt on his reporter … and he'd lost it entirely.

K double checked the back of her hair - which was pulled into an elegant but simple updo then slipped her shoes on and applied her lipstick. She was reasonably sure that the black, backless dress was tasteful enough for whatever Tony was taking her along to - but it was also close fitting enough that it almost looked painted on at her shoulders and arms. K was very sure that Tony would appreciate it anyhow, even if it wasn't like the blatantly obvious cries for attention that most women wore to those things.

When they met up in the hall, Tony paused and gave her a solid once over with a smirk. "That looks … incredibly conservative," he said - though even at that, it was clear it wasn't a complaint.

"It's not  _entirely_ conservative," she argued as she made her way over to take his arm. Tony only smirked a little wider - though he broke into a little laugh when he rested his hand at the small of her back and realized there wasn't any fabric there.

"Oh. I like this one," he said with a grin.

"Thought you might," she replied - just as they came up on Jan - who looked relieved to see them ready to go.

"I didn't think you had a dress," she said in a breath. "You could have told me if you needed something though." Jan gestured to K. "This is one of those that expects a racy tone to the outfits. I mean … not  _too_ racy, but - "

Tony took a moment to pick up K's hand and spin her so Jan could see the back - and earned a delighted sort of laugh out of her. "Ooooh, okay, never mind," she said with a grin. "Who's the designer? Armani?"

"Yeah," K said. "I knew you were busy. Didn't want to bother you."

"No, no! I like to take a break and shop, too!" Jan insisted. "But this … this will be perfect." She flashed them both a brilliant grin. "I'll see you there!"

Before either of them could say a word, Jan shrunk down and zipped off - admittedly a bit faster than Tony had expected of her. "Okay. I guess … we'll see her there," he said, shaking his head. "She's usually not so ... "

"Maybe you should investigate that further, Mr. Stark," K said.

"Maybe after this thing is over," Tony agreed, resting his hand at her hip again with a smirk and stealing a long kiss. "You look like you're up to something though."

"Who, me? Not likely," she replied, letting him lead her off, and absolutely looking like she was hunting by the expression on her face.

As they passed through the kitchen area, Logan glanced up with one eyebrow raised and couldn't help but smirk, knowing that someone was about to get torn into by the way K was moving …. but he wasn't about to say a word to anyone about it. Not when he didn't know who the target was.

He was still smirking, in fact, when Jan came by not ten minutes after Tony and K had left - and she positively skidded to a stop and backed up with her head tipped to the side as she looked at him. "What's got you looking like that?" she asked.

Logan tipped his beer back and shook his head. "Keep an eye on your buddy's girlfriend. Someone's gonna regret their life choices tonight."

"Wait. Who? Is it Tony? Is he going to … what's she going to do?"

"No idea," Logan replied. "But she had a look. An' someone's gonna get it. Don't think it's him though. If it was I doubt she'd be lettin' him touch her."

"Oh … kay," Jan said, shaking her head slowly before she crossed the short space to give him a kiss on the cheek. I'm honestly surprised she's still going to these. I know she hates them."

"She's too stubborn not to," Logan said off handedly. "Can't let 'em get know they irritate her."

"Well that's a good skill to have if she's going to be with Tony," Jan said in an airy sort of sad tone as she swept out of the room.

As it turned out, Jan somehow got there before Tony and K did - though she really didn't want to know what they were up to that had them  _that late_. Not that she had to guess. Though K's makeup was perfect still … Jan didn't miss the fact that there was a little wisp of hair out of place, and Tony was grinning obnoxiously. She could only roll her eyes at her old friend's idiocy, but .. she hadn't quite gotten into the building when she heard how entirely … tame the press was behaving. It took a moment for her to realize it - but the most vocal objectors to K dating Tony publicly were no longer in the press pool.

For a moment, Jan paused, wondering what it was that K could have done … no. She  _knew_ what K  _could_ have done … she just … it wasn't exactly a move befitting an Avenger if she'd … "Oh, Tony, I hope for your sake they didn't mysteriously  _die_ ," Jan said under her breath. She knew K had been angry at the things being said about the two of them - that was a given. Anyone with a brain and even a shadow of a heart would be upset with the things they were saying about the two of them. The rumors  _started_ by the press had been cruel at best - but the man that had been at the root of most of those rumors was mysteriously missing.

For a moment, Jan was very sure that K had gotten fed up and stabbed him- it wouldn't be the first time she refused to deal with male idiocy, after all. K for her part, looked perfectly relaxed even if Tony looked as if he was trying to place what about the group outside was different. He wouldn't bring it up in public - he was too much of a pro for that, but Jan could see the gears turning. It was obvious that Tony had the same doubts about K that Jan did.

Jan got into the gala not two minutes before K and Tony - she just gotten a drink in her hand when the rumors started to reach her ears … Namely the fact that  _somehow_ word was out that the nasty reporter that pestered Tony non-stop was having a torrid affair with his just-turned-eighteen intern. He wasn't the only one that was suffering either. One was sleeping with their step-daughter, another was embezzling from the newspaper they worked at - there were all kinds of dirty things that had gotten out - and those  _inside_ the party were not only shocked at some of the news, but how it had come out.

No one knew what had happened or how, and when Jan turned to watch K - she was hiding it with a look of concern and confusion that would have been believable - if not for the way Tony was watching her.

"What did you do?" Tony asked low.

K turned his way and gently shook her head. "What do you mean?"

"Honey, you can't tell me you didn't have something to do with this."

K stepped in closer as she drew in a breath and rested her hand on his chest, looking from the subtle blue glow under his tie - up to meet his gaze. "Is it easier or harder for you to enjoy your evening?"

"That's not the point."

"No," K agreed. "Turnabout is fair play. That's all. Only … I didn't make anything up."

Tony smirked at that but schooled his expression quickly. "Did you kill the guy?"

"I should," K said, but that had Tony shaking his head quickly before he pulled her into a more private corner under the guise of stealing a kiss - though he did that too.

"You can't murder anyone that offends you," he said in a low urgent tone once the kiss broke.

"Oh, of  _course_ not," K said seriously - though it had Tony taking pause. It was the first time since they let their relationship known that Tony felt as if she was honestly  _dangerous._

"Please, just leave them alone and ignore them," Tony said before he kissed her near her ear. "If they're getting to you, I can back off of these events - make Pepper turn 'em down. Something. Just … don't … go  _hunting_ reporters."

K let out a sigh and let him lead the way through their little moment alone. "You're tying my hands here," she said.

"Well no. Not yet. But I could."

"Tony."

"This is the nature of the beast, sweetheart. There'll always be more blood thirsty reporters waiting to step in and make themselves famous off of my bad choices-"

"So this is a bad choice?"

"That's not what I said - and it sure as hell wasn't what I meant," Tony replied quickly before he looked around the room and again took a hold of her arm. "Don't try to twist this around on me. I'm just trying to tell you not to let them get under your skin. That's all. Come on. You have more important things to focus on." He smirked and tipped her chin up. "Like Katie. And Peter."

K couldn't help but smirk right back at him for that. "Right. Yours and mine."

"For now."

"Yeah … we still haven't come close to discussing that…"

"Not tonight," Tony said. "We're not going there tonight. And sure as hell not doing it here."

"No kidding," she agreed before she went up on her toes and put her arms around the back of his neck - at least until he wrapped his arm around her back and picked her up for the kiss.

"I don't want you to feel like you need to do anything to protect me," Tony said. "You've done that plenty."

"And I don't want to see anyone screw you over," K said. "It just so happens that before it was a super villain - and now -"

"Now it's just the same kind of jerks saying the same kind of crap I've dealt with my whole life," Tony said. "It's not reason enough to go after them. Really. I know what I'm doing with these guys."

K let out a tiny growl that Tony felt against his chest for how tightly he was holding her to himself. It was clear that she was frustrated. Since the merger of teams, sure, she'd been doing a few runs here and there with Steve or the X-Men, but … it wasn't enough. And she didn't like feeling useless. "I'm not making any promises."

Tony shook his head and stole a quick kiss. "Close enough," he said - though neither of them noticed that Jan was hidden away on the bookshelf for the whole conversation.

She waited until they left before she left her hiding spot. She'd  _thought_ Tony had gotten around to talking with K about the kids thing … considering she'd turned him down  _weeks_ and  _weeks_ ago …

With a little frown, she started to mingle - and work her way to where she knew Tony usually hid with a girl, intending to get a better feel for what exactly was happening here. But … at least for now, they seemed fine. Tony had his game face on for the crowd, and K still looked like she was 'hunting' if she went by Logan's description.

But just as she was ready to give up on her quest to corner him, she saw it. Just for a moment. His smile slipped while K's head was turned and she could  _see_ that Tony was concerned. Jan bit her lip and took a moment to weigh it out before she turned on her heel slowly and slipped away, sure to grin and wave at one of her friends across the room that had been helping to push Jan's fashion lines.

As much as she wanted to see what had happened to get Tony  _concerned,_ she really didn't want to feel like she was being nosy - or stirring up the pot. But … she could see that something was weighing on his mind. With a sigh, she simply went to trying to enjoy the party. If he wanted to talk about it - she'd … be in the lab in the morning anyhow.

* * *

When Jan  _got_ to the lab, Tony was already there - his music cranked up and his focus on tearn apart some gadget or another, though he was taking notes as he went along. She slipped over and simply sat down near by - not wanting to set him off if he was in a bad mood. Especially since by the expression on his face - it was hard to tell.

He almost did a double take and smiled quietly at her before he turned the volume down substantially. "Didn't notice you come in," Tony said. "Were you tiny when you did it?"

For a moment, Jan's heart jumped, wondering if he  _knew_ she'd been on that bookshelf at the party. "No," she said, wide-eyed. "You are just less than observant today, Tony. What's going on with you? You're clearly distracted."

Tony hedged and held his breath before: "Nope. No, not gonna say a word."

"So it's  _personal_ , then," Jan decided. "What? You planning to propose or something and you're afraid I'll wreck it?"

The expression on Tony's face was one that Jan hadn't seen before - and she'd knew she'd hit too close to home  _one_ way or another. "I don't know about that," Tony said finally, very slowly before he set his tools down and turned to face her. "She …"

He paused, his eyes closed as he considered what and how to say what he was thinking - and Jan was holding her breath, both anticipating and dreading what he might say. "I think … she used my laptop for mild espionage."

Jan frowned. "What qualifies as mild?"

"Screwing with a couple of pain in my … well. Reporters, anyhow."

Jan couldn't help but smirk at him. "You know, she didn't kill them."

"Yeah, and that's not exactly much of a comfort knowing that she both could have and would have preferred to."

Jan tipped her head lightly. "That's ... "

"It's not right," Tony said. "And it's something we haven't really talked about." He started fiddling with the little device in his hands. "I don't think she'd stop if she got it in her head that's what needed to happen though…."

"Well we know she wouldn't," Jan said gently. "If it's a bad enough … I mean …"

Tony turned her way and set the device down long enough to stand up and give her a quick hug. "I really shouldn't be complaining to you about this."

"No, it's fine," Jan said, though she didn't deny him the hug. "I just … I'm glad you have someone that's so protective of you. In her own way … it's pretty … well, it's sweet. Kinda."

"I'm thinking it's just a barrier .. you know," Tony said before he pointed at his own face. "Breakable human thinking versus damn near invulnerable feral? It's a curve."

"It is," Jan said, smirking. "But you  _like it_ , and I can see that you like it."

"I do, but it's kind of ... " he drifted off, not continuing his thought.

"Intimidating?"

"Ha, no. I wouldn't ever say that."

"You wouldn't admit it," Jan corrected.

"No, absolutely not," Tony laughed before he let out a sigh. "I'm gonna have to find a way to bring up some serious stuff, and I'm not … very good at that."

"Hey. It'll work out," Jan promised, though every word hurt because she knew that one way or another it would - and she didn't want to give her friend (that she was crushing on) bad advice. Even if it meant he'd end up more permanently  _taken_.

"Right. Just gotta rip the bandage off," Tony said before once again, he gave Jan a smirk. "Hey. What about you? You seem to be drinking with Logan a lot lately. What's the story there?"

Jan was shocked for just a moment - not that anyone knew, but that Tony looked concerned. "We're just blowing off steam," she said with a wave.

"Yeah, that's how it starts," Tony said, tipping his chin to his chest. "I'd know."

"Oh,  _shut up_!" Jan said before she hit him in the chest. "It's not like you and your  _previously secret girlfriend_. Oh my gosh."

But by that time, Tony was laughing along with her. "I don't know that for sure."

"Yes! Yes you do! I'm not … oh my gosh, NO."

"Same taste in colors."

"Anthony Edward Stark!" she shouted, hitting him with every part of his name, backing him across the lab. "Not everyone just … ugh!"

Tony was still laughing at her as she finally quit smacking him around and went to her side of the lab to get to work. "You're terrible," she said, still smiling to herself.

"Ah, you love it," Tony replied automatically as he went back to work, leaving Jan biting the inside of her cheek as she tried not to smile so widely at him.


	51. Freedom

Of course, Tony wasn't the only one to be once again rethinking everything in the ongoing relationship between the genius inventor and the mutant assassin. K had been weighing everything out that had gone on over the past few months. It had been a wild ride, for sure, but Tony hadn't been very clear on what exactly it was he expected her to do with herself outside of caring for their kids should they continue the way they were going. And it sure looked like they were going to continue. She knew that she loved him. Or loved being wtih him. One or the other. He was a genuinely  _good guy_ , which … when put in company with the rest of his attributes was something so rare, K really didn't know how the hell she balanced out against all that.

And seeing as he didn't want her stepping in on any kind of protective detail for him, she was even more at a loss on what was expected of her outside of decorating his arm and living a life of luxury and ease at his side. It seemed … underwhelming.

So far, whenever she'd go out with the combined team, or even just with one or two hero-types, they were doing what they could to show her how it was done, not letting her try it herself. Which meant again, she was simply filling space.

Of course, it wasn't always like that. When she went out on a run with most of the X-Men without an Avenger, or even when she stepped out with Janet, she was allowed to do something, even if many times that something was less than helpful to anyone.

Not that she blamed them, but the Avengers in particular seemed to be going well out of their way to keep from putting her in a position where she might end up murdering the problem.

Which … she even understood that, but it left her wanting less and less to do with any of them. It must have been plainly on her face, too, because she'd just gotten in from a run with Steve and Logan - who had very different ideas on what she could and couldn't do - when Kurt almost appeared in front of her with a grin, his tail swaying behind him.

"So," he said as casually as he knew how. " What kinds of adventures have you found yourself on today?" Kurt was grinning still, excited to hear something new, but K really … didn't have anything.

"I didn't really do anything," K said, forcing a little smile as she ran a hand through his dark curls.

"But … you are on the team, yes? You're supposed to be an X-Man!"

K smirked. "I don't know what I'm supposed to be," K said. "But I don't think I'm an X-Man or an Avenger. Or that I can be." She smiled a little crookedly at that. It was ridiculous to think that she could do something like that. It was idiotic for her to have listened to Wanda on that count, and even Scott's guilt trip to stick around for Katie's sake was starting to feel as if she'd screwed up by listening to him.

She shook her head lightly and tried to brighten up for him, knowing it wasn't something the little boy needed or wanted to hear and that any indication that she might be planning to leave the place would have Kurt upset. "What about you? Training to save the world?"

But Kurt had seen her reaction and instead of answering, he'd moved forward cautiously and then very nearly attached himself with a warm hug. "Just causing a bit of trouble," Kurt admitted. "Maybe you need to tell them what team you'd like," he said. "Maybe that's why they don't know what to do. They need to be told."

"I don't think that's what's going on, bud, but … I'll keep that in mind." She gave him a little squeeze and kissed the top of his head before she slipped of to change and try to relax, but that left Kurt ready to find a way to  _fix_ it.

He puffed out his chest as he watched her go, his tail switching behind him irritatedly, and as soon as the women's locker room door closed, he was on his way- marching right to where Peter was to inform him: "Your new Dad needs to do something to cheer K up, or I'll get someone else to cheer her up."

"Hey! He cheers her up all the time!"

Kurt crossed his arms looking more irritated. "She shouldn't be upset in the first place."

"I … can't stop that!" Peter said, though as the two boys continued to go back and forth, Tony walked in to hear at least part of it. And he decided to investigate further before making any rash moves.

When Tony found K a short while later, she was staring out the window, drying her hair with a towel and not really expressing any kind of emotion other than 'distracted', if that counted. "You look like you have a lot on your mind," he said, getting her to turn toward him.

"I do," she agreed. "I just don't know how to … well. It's not really my call."

"Sure it is," Tony argued, smiling more crookedly. "What's the problem, boss?"

She smirked and pulled him over by his tie to steal a kiss. "Not a thing right now." But that only won her a more broad grin from him.

"That … is a great answer."

"You like that?"

"I did," he agreed before he took a seat next to her. "Hoping for more positive answers in the near future."

"I guess we'll have to see how that goes," she replied - which, really didn't sound at all like she was discouraging him from  _trying_. And that had him grinning wider.

"I think I like the sound of that too," he told her, his eyes dancing with amusement.

Which was great for both of their moods, but … it did nothing for them to  _discuss_ anything, and it became apparent to K that they were avoiding the big picture questions in favor of a little fun … though she was willing to overlook that while she used the fun times to avoid the bigger picture questions that Tony was veering into. Like long term  _permanent_ plans. Plans that would make Katie and Peter siblings in a very legal way. Plans that K was very sure would involve pressure for a natural born Stark in the near future - when she looked at Tony's age anyhow.

It wasn't that either of them were running out of time for that kind of thing, but … if he was ever going to have a kid that would  _know him_ for a decent portion of their life … well. Tony would likely be pushing for that once they … took the next step. And that was something that still had her slightly panicking, even though … out of all the men in her life she'd been  _serious_ about, Tony had given her the least reasons to be anxious in that department.

But it didn't take away her anxiousness about it, even if it should have.

The two of them had set aside a moment to talk it over - and she could  _see_ that Tony  _wanted_ to talk it over, which only had her anxiety level shooting higher, since serious subjects were hard for him to attack, which meant …

He gave her a soft sort of smile once they were alone, but she could smell the tang of anxiety on him too - which could only mean he was drifting closer to once again asking for a more major commitment. And every time she looked at those big brown eyes, she could practically  _see_ the kind of trouble she was in for if this continued much longer. Tiny, dark haired, dark eyed beauties that would have her abilities, temper … and his winning smile and obligations. So naturally, her only recourse to putting off the talk again was to either shut him down - which had honestly hurt the last time to see him that upset - or … she could distract him and then try to avoid it for a few days. Just to let him cool off.

As soon as Tony got her alone, she let her movements shift into more smooth and connected before she stalked a little closer to him and his delighted grin and took control of the conversation by locking the door and drawing his attention to more immediate matters.

The avoidance part of her plan … that was a little more difficult when he was sleeping over most nights and taking part in Katie's bedtime routine. So the fact that he had a tech conference to deal with was immensely helpful in that regard. And then … she  _had_ promised Kurt to take him to Church ….

The following morning, K gave Tony a long kiss goodbye as he headed off to his conference - though she knew the time was coming fast. "When I get back, I'm taking you out," he said with that same winning smile and his eyes sparkling. "Just the two of us - away from any paparazzi or nosy socialites. Just us."

"Sounds great," K replied, smirking crookedly, though in her head, all she was starting to hear was 'run'. Even if she really didn't  _want_ to. Fighting the little voice in the back of her head, she popped up on her toes to give him a kiss that naturally became more involved than she'd intended on -  _story of my life_ , she thought to herself as the kiss ended.

As soon as he was gone, she let out a breath, double checked to see what Katie was up to - playing  _Life_ with Kurt, and cheating terribly at it - then she headed down to see Steve.

She knocked on the door frame to the kitchen where he was going over some readouts with Scott - perfect. Scott didn't like her anyhow, she was pretty sure, so there was no way this would be a miserable conversation. Nope. Not at all. She forced a smile for both of them and made her way over. "I know you're really busy, but I was hoping for a word," K said, which was enough to get a genuine smile out of Steve, and one she didn't buy from Scott.

"Of course. Haven't really seen you around much if it wasn't on a mission. You know I've got a few minutes," Steve said, gesturing for her to take a seat.

K held up her hand in front of her. "It's not going to take that long and I don't want to interrupt too much. This is just about Kurt."

"Kurt?" Scott asked, his head popping up and he certainly looked more interested all of a sudden.

"Yes," K said, watching Scott for just a moment before she let her whole body roll back to Steve. "He'd asked about church back when Azazel died, and he's been listless when I've seen him on the weekend. Like he's holding his breath for someone to say something to him, but I've been a little …"

"Busy?" Steve offered.

"Distracted," K corrected, which had both Steve and Scott's eyebrows going up. "Tony's out of town, and I'm just trying to get things in order."

"So there's a wedding coming then?" Steve had to tease, but then instantly regretted it when he saw the way that K paled. "Just a joke - it's a joke." He had both hands up. "I didn't mean anything by it."

"I'm here about  _Kurt_ ," K said, her tone much more firm. "And only Kurt. I didn't think I needed to be so clear on that point."

"No, I was just … you two have been so busy, and you've spent every spare minute together. You can't blame me for thinking-"

"I don't. And if it comes to the point I need to find a church for that, I'm sure it'll be Tony that lets you know."

Steve tipped his head at that and let his tone drop to a more soothing one. "I'm sorry. I'm just relieved to see him so happy. That's all."

K smiled lightly, but man, did that one ever hurt. "He's a great guy," she replied. "But really. I'm here to talk to you about Kurt and taking him to church. Do you still want to go with us?"

"Yes, of course," Steve said, looking almost relieved that she wasn't  _angry_ with him. "I'd be happy to. Which mass?"

"Early. Always the early mass," K replied. "The later masses are for slackers, Captain."

Steve smirked at that. "You know, that's just exactly how my mother saw it."

K gave him a little smile at that and let her shoulders relax. "I'll take that as a compliment," she said. "See you at 7:30 Sunday morning."

"I'll be ready," Steve promised.

* * *

"You're going to be fine," K told Kurt as she helped him settle his curls down a little bit. "No one will give you a bit of trouble." She rested her hands on both of his shoulders for a moment. "You look dashing. And adorable. All at once."

Kurt didn't look entirely convinced, but when Katie bounded over in a new dress that  _twirled_  and took his hand, he found a little bit of his confidence.

"Mom got me a new dress just for church!" Katie told Kurt. "Because I never been!"

"You look lovely," Kurt said, doing his best grin for her. "And I hope you like it. I liked going - or … listening from outside when I was in Germany."

"Well, if you liked it, then it must be fun!" Katie said. "Mom said there's lots of people. I won't know  _anybody_ 'cept you an' Teddy!"

"And Steve," K added. "You know him, too."

"Well, yeah," Katie said with a shrug before she grabbed Kurt's hand. "C'mon! Let's go see Teddy. He's got a suit and I bet it looks like yours and he said he was gonna say hi to Billy and I wanna see Billy get kissed!"

Kurt grinned and looked up at K, who shooed him off. "Go on, we won't leave without you."

With that, the kids were off - giggling and skipping and excited as they caught up with Teddy - who had, indeed, gotten a kiss from Billy. So there was a lot of teasing all the way down to the church.

K and Steve were chatting quietly as the kids went ahead of them by a few steps, and when they got into the church, they were quick to herd them so that all the kids were sitting between the two of them. It was a long, regular service, and though Katie didn't have a lot of reference for any of it, she tried to keep up with K, who knew all the proper responses and went right along with everything as if it was part of the regular schedule.

Of course, when they got to the part of the service where the parishioners all turned to their neighbors to wish them peace, they got their first hiccup as an elderly woman paused on seeing Kurt - bright eyed and shyly waiting to see what was happening next.

The woman stared for a moment, then glanced to Steve, who flat missed it - and then to K who was holding her gaze with what could only be interpreted as a dare. Another second or two passed before the older woman forced a smile and offered Kurt her hand with a very quiet 'Peace be with you.' Kurt lit up and grinned, almost stuttering to answer her before she started to turn around - though the other kids and K managed to shake her hand before she caught Steve's attention. The woman did a double take  _again_ as Steve smiled at her and offered the same blessing before the sermon continued again, the rest of which went off without incident.

"So," Steve said as they headed for the car again. "What did you think, Kurt?"

"It was very nice," Kurt said with a smile. "It was nice to get to be inside."

"It's been a long time," Steve admitted. "But I'm glad we went."

"Me too," Kurt said with a shy smile.

"AND ALSO ME!" Katie bellowed. She grinned over at Kurt. "I like it!"

"You just liked all the rules to stand and sit and kneel," K teased.

"I like movin' around," Katie said. "I thought we were gonna have to sit the  _whole time_  so I like movin'!"

"No way," K said, frowning. "This church does a holy hokey pokey."

"That's what it's all about," Teddy sang under his breath, getting Katie to giggle.

"Come on, kids. Time for the  _other_ Catholic tradition," K said, herding them again to the car as they tried to dance and play in the parking lot.

"But we're hokey pokey-ing!" Katie called out.

"But it's breakfast time!" K said. "And you get to help order for Cap!"

"Oooh, Cap! You need pancakes!" Katie said. "Lots an' lots of 'em!"

"You heard her," K said as they got them in the right place. "You need lots of them. Let the kids take care of you."

"Okay, but if Katie's pickin' for my dad, then I get to pick for her mom," Teddy pointed out. "You-" He pointed at K. "You need scrambled eggs! And bacon!"

"That sounds perfect," K agreed. "Kurt can pick for you, Katie. Steve can pick for Kurt … and I'll get  _you_ , sweet lil' Teddy bear."

"Yay!" Teddy grinned and rushed over to hug K. "I like this. We should do this  _every week_."

"It's a date," K agreed, snuggling him right back before the group went to their mixed up breakfast.

By the time they got back, it was nearly noon, and all the kids were in great moods - ready to get out of their Sunday clothes and start playing. K took a moment with Steve to thank him though before they parted company … since they too, were ready to get out of the dress clothes and relax just a little bit.

She was almost to her room when she ran into Tony, who had apparently gotten back from his conference before church was out. When he spotted her, he couldn't help but wear a little smirk, thinking back to the rare occasions when his father as out of town and his mother would bring  _him_ to church with her. And even though Scott had told him where she was, he still wasn't prepared for the Sunday look and wanted to hear from her what exactly had happened. "Where have you been - all … dressed up so early?"

K turned with a little smile, honestly happy to see him back already. "I went with Steve and the kids to St. Joseph's down the road," K said, smiling through the hello kiss, though she put her hand on his chest to keep him from following her through the door. "Kurt needed to go to church. And I'm gonna need a minute to get out of this outfit. Alone." She tipped her head to the side. "If you're free after … well. I wouldn't say no to a little welcome back party."

Tony frowned deeply at that. "More fun with help," he pointed out, pressing in a little more and stealing little kisses, that had K grinning at him but still at least  _attempting_ to slow him down.

"Sweetheart, I may not be the most religious person in the world, but I did just walk out of church with a gaggle of kids- one of which was half demon who's father I  _stupidly_ made a deal with - and just to get though the service I was required to dare the other church goers to behave so I didn't stab someone on holy ground." She paused to give him a long and lingering kiss that very nearly negated all that she'd just argued. "Please, give me just a few minutes to shake that off."

Tony raised an eyebrow at that and then stepped back a bit to give her a little room. "Okay. Fair enough."

She gave him another quick once over before she stole a much more chaste kiss then stepped into her room. "What were you looking for me for - specifically?" she asked through the door.

"Just noticed the kids were all distracted and thought I might get some one on one time with you tonight," Tony admitted. "Nothing really extravagant, wear what you like, but … it's overdue. Just us with no reason other than we want to."

"Ah, well ... " it was clear things were happening on the other side of the door by the way she'd slammed a drawer and clearly sounded further out. "... I can do that." A few seconds later she opened the door - barefoot and wearing a pair of jeans and a fitted t-shirt this time. "That sounds good, really. You can tell me all about what kind of trouble you've been up to for the past few days."

Tony gave her a brilliant smile. "Oh, you know. Nothing too new. Just had to give a few speeches, play friendly with some up and coming developers … and somehow, I got roped into Jan's wedding planning services. Mostly arranging for and paying for the catering and whatnot."

K raised an eyebrow at that, but let him push her back into the room, stealing little kisses as they worked their way to the couch. "And you're an expert at that now? Or are you just being generous?"

"Hey, any wedding that had an engagement based on the defeat of the Big Bad and the rescue of my favorite damsel is one I can get behind," Tony teased.

"Alright … just as long as you're not getting any wild ideas."

"No, no, I learned that lesson," Tony said, holding both hands up. "Loud and clear. You like it slow." He smirked quietly. "Well. Some things."

"Some things," K agreed, though she had couldn't help but get a little carried away with him when he was in such an infectiously good mood. "So … alone time. You got me. What are we doing?  _Slowly_."

"What would you say to a proper date? Dinner out and everything. And then we'll see if you feel like  _slow_ later."

"Sounds novel," she said.

Tony grinned and couldn't help but steal another rather involved kiss. "Liked the dress, by the way."

"I thought you'd prefer one less Catholic-appropriate."

"Well, yeah, but you looked great all the same." he grinned a little wider as they got a little tangled up. "Like the jeans too."

"You're sounding biased to me," K replied. "But I'll take it."

"What? No." Tony chuckled as he finally backed off so he could see her better. "But I have to admit, I've been looking forward to some time just us."

"Might be just what the doctor ordered," K agreed, once again letting him set the pace, as they'd fallen into the practice of doing.

He shook his head with a growing smile. "Alright. Take a little time to think pure thoughts, we can dirty that up later." K chuckled at his thinking. "What do you say? Seven?"

"Seven sounds great," K agreed just before he pushed her into the couch cushions for another long kiss - then left her to make his arrangements - leaving K's heart beating a little faster. Whatever little doubts he'd had - whatever misgivings - it was clear he'd made a decision of sorts. And from the confident expression he was wearing, she was reasonably sure where he was leaning.

* * *

The dinner was lovely, as usual, though it wasn't until the dessert was brought out that Tony finally spoke his mind. "So," he said. "I owe you and Katie an apology. Should have  _asked_ first before diving in like that. Obviously. That was on me."

"That was weeks ago, sweetheart. But … seeing as we've pretty much been pedal to the metal this whole time .." K let out a breath. "Yeah. I think that was the first I've had to say 'no' to you."

"Bit of a shock to me too," Tony said with a self-deprecating smile.

"Just not used to it, are you, handsome?"

"What makes you think that?" Tony asked, his smile turning a bit more crooked.

"Just a hunch."

Tony smirked and shifted where he was sitting so he could lean over and kiss her. "Right, well. I just wanted to let you know that when it  _does_ happen? It'll be a lot slower. You know… get Katie on board and all that."

"Genius."

Tony smirked. "Might take a little while, but I think I want to open up that can of worms. We kind of need to. It's pretty clear that I'm 'assigned to Peter' so you know… I mean, I love the kid and all and I'm not saying - I mean, you'd be great with him too, obviously. Sweetest siblings on the planet and all that-"

"Tony, you're getting carried away again," K said as she took his hand.

"Yeah, I know. I'm getting there. Hear me out"

"Okay," K said, though she was holding her breath as he frowned to himself trying to gather his thoughts.

"Anyhow. I'm moving out of the house - well. The superhero halfway house, anyhow," Tony said. "I like my team and all, but I really need to have space to myself again. And I want you and Katie to come with me. It's not - I'm not proposing. Not yet. It's just a step in the right direction I think. Try it out when we don't have all kinds of people diving in and offering to handle them ... " He drew in a deep breath and looked up to hold her gaze. "And … if all goes well, we can revisit what it is we need to do next in a few months."

For a moment, K couldn't do anything but stare back at him with an entirely open expression, since once again - it was a pretty  _reasonable_ step.

"And … if all goes well after a few months?"

Tony's only answer was to try and hide the smile that was tugging at the corner of his mouth and somehow manage to look even more roguish than usual.

K bit her lip, realizing that this was his version of slowing down for  _her_ benefit. "How heavy is this on your mind? Exactly."

"Well,  _obviously_ it's not a requirement to carry on like we have been if you're skittish," Tony said with a smirk. "I'm not  _that_ old-fashioned. I'm just trying to get us on track - without the spandex involvement mucking it up."

"No, but you are anxious." She tapped the side of her nose. "Can't even bend the truth. Don't try." She leaned forward and gave him a very gentle kiss. "How long do you think this will take to know? I'm not pressuring. I need to know where your head is and I'm not a telepath, okay?"

Tony nodded slowly. "Well, I'm not going to put a time limit on it," he said. "You made that pretty clear, and I'm not going to push that on you and Katie - or even Peter."

"If I hadn't said no to Katie's name change? Where would that have put you today?"

Tony frowned for a second and tipped his head to the side. "Well, then it would be you and me and Katie, wouldn't it? It wouldn't be as big of a discussion to move out of Xaviers, and I'd probably get you something sparkly after a while so we could make sure that we give Katie and Peter a stable family and … well… you know. All the other stuff that goes with it."

"So this is  _just_ about the kids?" K was nearly holding her breath the more Tony spoke. It sure sounded like he was exactly where she thought he was. And the 'other stuff' had her heart hammering in her ears as her inner voice started  _screaming_ to run.

"No!' Tony shook his head. "No, are you kidding? I wouldn't propose if I didn't  _want_ to! And that's not even … I'm talking about moving  _in_ , honey. Not marriage or kids yet." He rolled his eyes and tried hard to defuse the situation with a little wave of his hand. "More kids anyhow. We'd start out with two, I'm not discounting them."

He took both of her hands in his and gave her a warm smile - though it was clear by his expression that he was borderline terrified on what she might say now that he'd laid it out so openly. And that really only made it that much harder for K to say what came next.

"Why do you have to be so damn sweet?" K asked, her eyes closed and her chin almost touching her chest. .

"You know, of all of my many,  _many_ good traits…"

K shook her head at that then moved closer to give him a long, lingering sort of kiss. "You need to know that I really do love you." Tony's anxiousness melted away and the smile lit his face up like Christmas. "But … as much as it kills me, and it does honestly kill me, I have to be honest with you. I am so sorry, Tony. But this isn't going to work."

Tony blinked at her. "What are you talking about? C'mon, K. We totally work," he said with a smirk and stole a kiss that was clearly a plea to get her to once again agree, and to see it his way. The kind of plea that had worked so many times before when she was on the fence, and it was that fact that had her hurting that much more. She'd let him get away with it too much, too often.

"We do work, in most ways," she agreed when the kiss broke, one hand on the side of his neck. "But you … you are ready to make yourself a family, and I'm not stupid enough to think that Kate - or even Kate and Peter would be a stopping point any time soon for you." K shook her head slowly at that. "I'm not up to that."

"Wait." Tony held up a hand, blinking at her wide-eyed. "Wait,  _kids_ are a hangup? You've been bringing them home like carnival prizes!" He leaned back, honestly shocked at what she was telling him.

"I've been bringing kids home that have been lost and in need," K said, her misery starting to peek through. "Which is a far cry from tiny, adorable little dark haired trouble makers that I absolutely wouldn't be able to deny giving you. I've seen that look on your face before, Tony. And it gets worse on you when you're playing with Katie."

"Okay, so yeah, I'd like that. Is that terrible?" Tony shrugged openly and again took her hand. "What's wrong with that? You'd be a great mom, and our kids would be  _amazing._ "

"They would," she agreed. "But I'm more than a little gunshy about that. Maybe I wouldn't be if Azazel hadn't tried to … " She broke off and shook her head, clearly still traumatized from all that had happened with the old demon. "I don't know when or if I'll ever be ready to do that, and honestly, it's not fair for you to have to wait for  _me_."

Tony frowned. "Come on, honey," he said, shaking his head. "If you'd rather be married first, and wait for a while that's fine-"

She couldn't help but smile at him for that. "This is a big point, Tony. And I don't want you to miss out on kids of your own because of me any more than I want to risk letting you talk me into it - and then lose my mind if it goes wrong or I'm not ready for it. The big  _problem_ here is that it's  _incredibly hard_ for me to say no to you. And that's trouble. I have to stop it."

"I don't see a problem with that," Tony said with a smirk. "Aren't I usually right in the end?"

"Most of the time, yes," she laughed. "And of course you don't see a problem with it. Why would you?"

"Self-explanatory," he agreed before he gave her a little kiss. "So, that's it? You're out because, what, I'm too fast?"

K shook her head sadly. "You deserve someone who can't say no to you - and who  _you_ can't say no to either."

"Thought that was you," Tony pointed out.

"I can still say no," she said. "I don't really  _want_ to, and I don't  _like_ it, but I know if there's any chance that you're wrong and I can't handle it … I don't want to resent you for it. You don't deserve it - and our  _kids_ wouldn't deserve it. It's better for both of us this way." She shrugged, halfway shrinking up on herself.

"I really hate that you're letting him screw with you - even after he's gone," Tony said, honestly looking almost angry.

"The damage was already done, Tony," K replied. "I just haven't been able to handle it."

"Then take the time. Don't just toss this.  _Us_."

"I don't know how long that will take," K said. "It could be a couple years -"

"I can wait a couple years, that's nothing."

"- Or it could take ten years. I don't age the same as you, I don't process the same either, and you? You're in your prime, Tony. If you're going to be in your kids' lives, both you  _and they_ deserve to have you in your prime." She gestured to herself. "It doesn't matter as much for me. But I can't make you wait until I'm ready. It's not fair."

"This is crap," he said, though he no longer sounded angry about it. "I see what you're saying, but this is crap. You're letting what he did - what he tried to do- you're letting that shape your life now."

"If there hadn't been any outside interference … or if you aged like me, I would love nothing more than to simply go on like this for  _years_ , but … we can't do this. You don't need to be … trying to throttle back when you  _know_ what you want out of life."

Tony frowned for a long moment before he let out an almost disbelieving laugh. "For the record… this has never happened to me."

"Which part?" K asked, still staying somewhat small.

"Well, most of it. But I've… always been the one to end it. Or, you know, she tries to kill me. So I guess that's a breakup but not really?" Tony chuckled lightly.

"If it makes you feel any better at all, you're the first one that I haven't just … flat out ran from."

"Okay, well, that's something."

"You are incredibly easy to fall for. In case you missed that part."

Tony smirked lightly. "Yeah. I've heard."

"That's not something I do very easily though," she added. "And I am  _so_ sorry."

Tony let out a breath and then nodded. "Yeah. Well." He got to his feet and offered her a hand up. "How opposed are you to breakup sex, because…"

"Not even a little bit against it," she replied with a sad sort of smile. "One last time?"

Tony smiled at that. "Nice and slow - just for you," he teased before he pulled her into a long kiss.


	52. Should I Stay Or Should I Go

Even considering the break up, it was a few days before anyone saw either Tony or K, and when they'd returned, no one in the house knew what was going on. At first. Though when Jan came into the lab to find Tony just staring at a computer screen and frowning  _without_ his usual nervous energy, it was pretty clear something was up.

Tony was resting his knuckles against his lips and quietly tapping his fingers on the keys one handed - and not hard enough to actually press any of them - instead just … making noise for himself. He was distracted enough that he didn't really acknowledge her when she came in either. Which was another giant red flag for her, and against her better judgement and sense of self preservation, she took a step toward him already sure that she'd be punishing her liver later.

"Hey," Jan said quietly, though it was in fact enough to draw his attention, and he quickly straightened up and closed out a window before he opened another and started working again.

"You need the desk?" Tony asked, clearly trying to look like he was simply getting back to business. "I'm not doing anything that important."

"Um…" Jan frowned. "Okay, what happened?" she asked, deciding to get right to it. "Because you are  _not_ being very Tony-like right now, so don't even try to play it off."

"I … am … working. In my lab. What's not Tony-like about that?"

"You're…" Jan let out a breath. "Okay, fair. But you're acting more like the Tony who hides in his lab and pretends he's okay than the one I've been hanging out with lately who's all… excited and sweet and fun and  _happy_."

He shrugged openly then clapped his hands down on his legs. "I got too far ahead of myself. I guess. Don't really understand it?"

Jan bit her lip and then zipped over to wrap him in a hug. "You okay?"

He quickly tried to regain some of his usual attitude. "Sure. I mean, she didn't try to kill me… which is probably good because I think she could have."

"Um, yeah, definitely," Jan said, though she was totally wide-eyed. "Wait ...you guys  _broke up_?"

"Yeah," he said before he blew out a breath. "She ended it. New territory for me there, too …"

Jan let out a noise and then doubled down on her hug. "Okay, so definitely not okay, then."

"I don't … she was stepping back because of the  _kids_ and she's not over the whole demon thing yet, apparently."

Jan pulled back and frowned at Tony. "I thought you wanted kids?"

"I do," he said, nodding to himself. "It wasn't the ones she brought here that spooked her though. It's the  _possible future_ others. Gunshy over tiny little … dark haired..." he let out a sigh. "Nevermind."

"Oh." Jan bit her lip as she looked up at Tony.

He blinked when he saw her reaction and held up both hands. "I didn't bring that up. She did. Accused me of having a  _look_ … whatever that means."

"Well… you kind of do," Jan said. "It's not a bad thing!" she added quickly.

"Believe it or not, she said that too," Tony told her. "And aside from admitting she's letting all the  _demon crap_ screw her up, there was some kind of nonsense about how she didn't like telling me no …"

"Yeah…" Jan tipped her head to the side. "I get that, though. If it was me?" She bit her lip. "I mean, well, when it was me and Hank, I couldn't tell him no either, but it was the opposite? We never did really talk about having kids. Even though he knew I wanted them. And it wasn't… good."

"Well, yeah. But that … that wasn't the same thing."

"Wasn't it?" Jan asked. "We were never on the same page. Ever. And yeah, there was other stuff too, but if you don't think half our fights were about how I wanted him to be a family man, then you didn't hear the yelling."

"It wasn't even a 'no' though. It was a … I don't know. More like she didn't want me to have to  _wait._ " He threw one hand up. "Which is completely stupid. I even told her I didn't mind waiting until she was ready... " He shook his head and ran one hand over his face, clearly frustrated.

Jan bit her lip and then hugged him tightly. "I'm just going to hug you now, okay?"

Tony had already automatically hugged her back and snuggled in a little himself. "Yeah. Thanks, Jan," he said quietly.

"Anytime."

* * *

Jan wasn't the only one who had noticed the change, either, though it was Katie who was close enough to K to almost immediately pick up on the fact that she just… didn't seem like herself at all.

She was more or less avoiding everyone, spending a lot more time away from groups and reading and even though she  _did_ smile at Katie and tickle her and all the usual things she did when they played, it was clear to the little girl that her mom just wasn't herself.

So, Katie climbed into her mom's lap with her teddy bear in hand, slipped between K and the book, and plopped the teddy bear down beside her. "You need 'im," she said decisively.

"No, his whole job is to be there for you to snuggle," K told her as she ran her hand over Katie's hair.

"Yeah, but I got him for being scared of the dark or being sad an' stuff, and maybe you're not scared, but you're sad, so you need 'im."

"I appreciate it, gorgeous, but I really don't want to snuggle a teddy bear." She kissed Katie's forehead. "Thank you though. That was very thoughtful."

"Well, what  _do_ you wanna do? Because you're sad, and you need someone to help you be not sad."

"I don't really know," K replied honestly. "Usually I go to the woods - waaaay up north and way far away from everyone, but I don't think I can do that right now."

Katie tipped her head to the side. "You gonna go camping?" she asked.

"I'd like to," K agreed.

"Maybe … maybe we can go together after Miss Jean and Mr. Cyclops get married," Katie offered. "I never been, but I bet I could be good at it!"

"Maybe," K said in a breath. "But I'm sure you'd be good at anything you tried."

"Uh-huh, because I'm awesome," Katie said, grinning up at K.

K pulled her into a little snuggle and kissed her head again. "You don't have to stay here if you have things to do and games to play. I'm okay."

Katie shook her head and gave K and even tighter hug. "Nuh-uh. No way. I wanna  _snuggle_."

"Alright, then," K agreed, shifting to get more settled in with her in the window seat.

It wasn't long before Katie started to squirm a little, just because she was too young to stay still for too long, and she looked up at K. "D'you want me to get Tony, cuz I can if you wanna kiss."

"No, I'm not kissing him anymore," K said.

Katie tipped her head to the side. "Well… okay. Is that how come you're sad?" She sat up a little better. "It's okay, Mom. I don't  _need_ a dad if you don't wanna kiss that one."

"Yeah, that's why I'm sad," K agreed. "But it wasn't really his fault. Don't worry about it too much, okay?"

"Didja dump 'im?"

"Not exactly, sweetheart," K said. "You dump the ones you don't like."

"Oh." Katie wrinkled her nose. "Then maybe I don' get it."

"You don't need to get it," K told her. "It was me. He's a good guy. Don't worry about it, really."

"Well, can I go give him a hug too?" Katie asked. "Because if you're both sad, you both need 'em."

"You sure can," K said. "I'm sure he'd like that."

"Okay. But my teddy's gotta stay with you and look out for you, okay?" Katie said.

K kissed her cheek. "Okay."

Katie smiled and kissed K's cheek before she scooted down and skipped off to Tony's workshop, which was where she could always find him. She had to knock, though, because Tony said sometimes he was working on stuff that could catch on  _fire_.

"It's open!" Tony called out. "Watch the boxes though."

Katie came in and then quickly gasped when she saw that Tony was putting all his things in boxes. She ran over to him and hugged him around the knees. "You don't gotta  _go away_!" she said, slightly muffled by how tightly she was hugging him.

"Oh, hey, Katie," Tony said, resting a hand on her back. "I was packing up anyhow. I got my  _big_ lab finished up finally." He crouched down to give her a better hug. "It took some time after my building went down but now I've got it back."

"You can't go just cuz Mom's not kissing you no more, because - because I love you too!" Katie insisted, her eyes wide.

Tony covered his mouth with one hand for a moment, entirely not expecting that. "Well I love you too, sweetheart, but that's not what's happening. I was on my way back to my house before that happened." He paused and held his breath for a moment. "Does your mom know you're here?"

"Uh-huh. I gave her my teddy bear cuz she's sad," Katie said.

"Really? Even with you being so sweet to share? I know how much you love your bear."

Katie nodded. "I think she's sad cuz she likes you a lot," she said.

"Probably," Tony agreed. "I like her a lot too."

Katie hugged Tony tighter. "I still wanna be your friend. Can I please?"

"Are you kidding? Of course! I wanna be friends with both of you if nothing else," Tony told her, snuggling her tight.

"That would be really good," Katie agreed. "Then I can play with you and Peter still!"

"You can always play with us," Tony promised. "Besides … you gotta grow up and be an Avenger, right?"

"Uh-huh! The best one ever!"

"Well you can't get on the team without being friends with me," Tony teased.

"So we're still friends, right?" Katie leaned forward to touch noses with him. " _Right?_ "

"Absolutely," he agreed. "The best."

"Okay, good." Katie gave him another quick hug. "Okay, well, okay, I'm gonna go get my teddy and then play with  _Teddy_." She giggled at her little joke, one hand over her mouth as she twisted at the waist to make her long shirt twirl.

"Have fun, sweetie," Tony said, doing his best to put on a little smile even if he absolutely wasn't feeling it.

He did manage to hold it, at least, until the door closed behind Katie and then Jan flitted up out of the box nearby and grew to full-size to practically knock him backward in a hug. "Oh, man. Tony."

"It's fine," he said almost at a whisper.

"Yeah. Well." Jan hugged him a little tighter. "You're a superhero, you know that?"

"Debatable," he said, straightening up a little. "Ask Cap. He'll tell you."

"I don't mean it that way," Jan said. "I mean… you're … you're just…" She shook her head and then simply kissed his cheek. "Okay. So. We… we need to… let's pack. Okay? Let's - that's something we can do."

Tony let out a breath at that, then reached over to a mostly empty box. "I think I can have Happy finish up. I think I want to just go where it's quiet - and where there aren't painfully cute little girls and just … drink."

"I'm pretty good at that," Jan said. "I even know where I can steal some. Or, well, not steal, but-"

"I don't want any of Logan's crappy whiskey," Tony said.

"But it's good!" Jan argued.

"Not as good as mine," Tony replied. "Single malt scotch … little more  _refined_. Besides, part of that is getting away from the kids, too. Probably just a matter of time before the rest of them start a parade."

"Yeah." Jan hugged him again. "Okay, let's go. Because no way am I letting you drink  _alone_. Not until you're a little less…" She gestured to him.

"Less what?"

"That."

"You're not being very helpful with 'that'."

"Well, what do you want me to say, Tony?" Jan asked. "There's not exactly a word that describes this… this  _thing_ you do where you think you've screwed your life up all over again!"

"I don't know, that kind of sums it up nicely," Tony replied. "But fine. You're welcome to drink with me if you need to."

"Oh, Tony." Jan smiled and looped her arm through his. " _You_ need me to. You'll thank me later."

* * *

Katie had done exactly as she'd said and made her way over to play with Teddy and Billy once she got her teddy bear back from K - but it wasn't too long before the kids got the news about what was going on.

"My mom and your dad aren't kissin' no more," Katie said to Peter, and though Peter looked as if he knew it already, Kurt's head popped up on hearing it.

"Yeah, he's pretty sad," Peter said, though it was clear he didn't know how to handle it.

"She's pretty sad too," Katie said, still snuggling her bear. "Grown ups are weird."

Peter nodded his head at that, and Kurt crept a little closer, though both Katie and Peter were a little more quiet than usual.

"Do you want to play a game?" he offered. "We could get out  _Chutes and Ladders_  or even  _Twister_ if Vision wants to call out which dots to use."

Katie looked up with a bright smile. "That sounds like fun!" She scrambled to her feet and put her hands on her hips. "You're  _totally gonna lose_ , Peter!"

"No way!" Peter shot back, though he wasn't as enthusiastic as Kate. "I'm way more flexible."

"NUH-UH!"

"UH-HUH!"

"NU-UH, and Im gonna beat you to Vision first too!" She took off running before Peter had a chance to get ready, and for just a moment, Kurt stayed back. He  _needed_ to tell Logan what had happened, but of course … Logan was gone somewhere and had been for several days.

He followed the shouting and screaming of Katie and Peter picking at each other, but he took a tiny detour to look in the garage to see if Logan's Jeep was there … though when he saw it wasn't, he visibly deflated and gently closed the door before rushing to catch up with Katie and Peter. He'd just have to tell Logan the moment he got home from … whatever he was doing.

* * *

Once Jan had made sure Tony didn't drink himself into  _trouble,_ and that he was asleep and not just  _passed out_ , she checked with Happy on her way out of his door and then made her way down the hall until she found K - curled up and reading in the window seat still.

Jan was a little bit tipsy - not totally drunk, since she'd been babysitting, but enough that she didn't really have any qualms about going up to K to ask, "What even happened?"

K set her book down - not marking the place or even really caring as she closed it before she turned to Jan. "Can you tell me when the right time is to break up with a good guy?"

Jan shook her head. "If it was me? Never. He's  _Tony_."

"I know," she said, though she didn't look happy at  _all_. "And if you think I'm didn't regret it even as I ended it, you're out of your damn mind."

"Well, yeah. He's Tony."

"Exactly," K agreed. "So as you can see, it's not him. At all. He's just about as perfect as he could be." She let out a long breath. "And he deserves to get everything his little heart desires. I just can't do that for him."

"But you're - you make him so  _happy_." Jan said. "That's all I want for him."

"What did he tell you?" K asked. "Because that's what I want for him too - and I don't want for him to have to wait for God-knows how long for me to be  _okay_."

"He said it was about the kids?" Jan shook her head.

"More or less, yeah," K agreed with a little frown.

"You know wanting kids is new to him, right?" Jan asked. "He'd be okay to wait."

K shook her head at that. "I didn't know that, but I'm not … right for that. I don't age like he does - and I'm not saying he's old, but I am saying I'm still spooked." She leaned toward Jan and let her voice drop a little. "I get being okay to wait - but I don't want him waiting for ten or fifteen years  _pining_ for that if I can't get over it. Or just as bad - I don't want to  _see_ him pining and cave then not be able to handle it. I don't want to regret it and hate him for it later. Does that make sense? I don't like  _not_ giving him what he wants. And sooner or later it would bite me in the ass, and I know it."

Jan let out a slow breath and then leaned over and put her head on K's shoulder. "I hate that you make sense, because it would be easier to just come in and kick your butt."

"It would be easier to just … give him what he wants and hope for the best, but I'm telling you … I've been fighting this little voice in the back of my head that keeps getting louder telling me to run. And I couldn't do that. He deserves more than just a class 'A' disappearing act."

"Oh, please don't go," Jan said.

"Might be easier on him  _and_ me," she said softly before she gestured to the discarded book. "I've been reading that same damn page all day staying right here so I don't accidentally bump into him … leaving might be a mercy."

"No, but I  _like_ you," Jan blurted out.

"You have exactly zero reasons to like me," K replied.

"I know," Jan said. "You killed my ex and sto- I mean dated Tony and broke his heart and I  _should_ hate you but I don't because I just can't because you're so nice and easy to get along with and you have his back  _still_  and that means a lot and-" She took a deep breath. "Oooh, sorry. Logan says I start spilling my guts when I get tipsy."

"Most people do," K promised. "I was a bartender for a while. It's a common side effect. You're fine. But you don't have to talk to me. I know it can't be easy for you to even be near me."

"Yeah, well. I like having another girl around to talk to." Jan brushed her bangs out of her face. "Natasha's all wrapped up in Clint and being a super aloof spy ...most of the X-Men are a little too young, and Wanda's too busy trying to figure out how to get herself a  _girl_ …"

"I'd  _guess_ the same way she got the twins," K said in a sarcastic tone. "She's just chickening out because it's such a drain on her abilities and she's having too much fun being  _nosy_ with everyone."

"She's …" Jan giggled. "She just… I think she's scared she'll get another boy and then have to do it all over again."

K turned her way with a raised eyebrow. "You do know that she wished for a boy last time, right?"

"Yeah, and got  _two_." Jan leaned forward. "She has very powerful little boy magic."

"Do you really think she wouldn't absolutely melt into a giant puddle if she got another boy? OR  _two girls_? She's got very powerful 'spoil herself' magic."

"This is also very true," Jan giggled. "I wish  _I_ had that power."

"Yeah, me too. Might be able to fix this freaking train wreck if I did," K said softly, gesturing to herself.

"Well, you gotta take care of yourself," Jan said.

"Not a chance," K said in a flat tone. "Not when all I do is leave pure destruction in my wake."

Jan shook her head. "No. You saved all those kids, remember? And totally helped us destroy Magneto and his stupid followers. That counts for a lot."

"You really are drunk, you know that?"

"Yes, well, Tony needed a drinking partner," Jan said. "And I'm really,  _really_ good at looking out for him. Ever since we were teenagers."

K smirked at that. "He said as much," she said with a nod as she watched Jan for a moment. "You don't have to answer me, but … why didn't you two ever date?"

"Oh." Jan blushed bright red. "Well, we thought about it a couple times. And then I fell in love with Hank and I guess that was - I mean, I picked someone else over him, so obviously, he gets to move on too…"

"Hmm," K said, leaning back a little.

Jan bit her lip. "That… was … I mean, you know what? If you decide - I mean, if you figure things out and you pull it together and go back to him - he'd be  _so happy_. Really. He would."

K shook her head at that though. "He deserves better than that," K said. "Pretty sure he's too smart for that anyhow. There'd always be some doubt that I'd run off on him again. No. That's just not … possible."

"Well, I'm sorry for both of you then because that sucks."

"Yeah, but … he'll be okay with a little time, I think. He just needs to see that for once I was right. He's just … he's young enough it might take a while to realize it."

"You sound like Logan," Jan said, starting to snuggle in without even thinking about it.

"I don't know how to respond to that," K said, leaning her head over to rest on Jan's.

"Well, I love him. Logan's been  _wonderful_ dealing with me being - well, me."

"Oh yeah,  _that's_ a nightmare," K said thickly. "You're a ball of sunshine and positivity- oh. Nevermind. I see it now," she couldn't help but tease.

Jan shook her head. "Sometimes, I need a drinking buddy too."

"Maybe that's what I should do," K said. "It's been a long time since I've been drunk."

"Oooh, I don't think I can keep up. If you're like Logan, I got the keys taken away before he even got in a good mood!"

"Probably a smart move," K said. "I don't think the guys would be able to keep on living if you crashed into something." She let out a sigh. "I'm sorry I broke your friend's heart. He's lucky to have you there to catch him."

"He is," Jan said with a smile. "I've seen him through seven- no, wait, eighteen heartbreaks, so… I'm good at it."

"Then he should bounce back in no time with a pro like you watching his back," K said with a clearly put on smile.

"Hope so." Jan leaned in and let out a yawn. "You should find someone like that."

"I've been looking for decades … doubt it'll be easy to find another one when I'm not a wreck."

"Well, you can borrow mine if you want. Ooh! Or Steve!" Jan giggled. "Yes! Steve! You should totally follow up on your  _teeeeeease_!"

"I haven't even seen him since Tony and I split," K said, then frowned to herself. "And it wasn't a tease with Steve. Stop that."

Jan giggled. "Uh-huh. It so was."

"You weren't even there!" K couldn't help but let out a breath of a laugh. "Besides, I'm sure what I need is a bunch of rumors going around that I'm making the rounds on your , no."

"Oooh that would be a change," Jan giggled.

"Can you imagine the look on Tony's face for that? No. He'd never forgive me for that."

"I mean, this is a very good point, but I'm also picturing when you get to  _Thor_ …."

"We could talk in secret  _Norse code_ ," K mock-whispered.

Jan snorted laughing. "I love you!"

"No you don't, you're just drunk."

"Yes I do and yes I am!"

K let out a breath and got to her feet, pulling Jan with her. "Come on, you should get to bed. I'll help you." K put her arm around Jan's back so she could lean on her as much as she needed to stay upright. "So … your room or …."

"I love you but I'm not staying in your room," Jan giggled.

"I wasn't offering mine," K almost sang. "I was asking whose you wanted to go to."

"Oooh. Yes. Well. Mine. Happy's got Tony all set, so I can just…" She giggled. "Toodle off!"

"Yeah, there's another one giving me looks of pure … loathing," K said. "We'll get you to bed, then you can just forget about all this, okay?"

"Okay," Jan said.

K helped her  _quietly_ get back to her room - and made sure she was comfortably in bed with the lights low before she slipped out - then headed out into the woods for the rest of the night since she knew Katie was sleeping over with the Guthrie kids anyhow. Which was something else. With all the wreckage she'd caused, K couldn't help but find herself staring out at the woods outside  _longing_ to head out and disappear.

She closed Jan's door quietly behind her, but only got a few doors down before Jean reached out to her psychically.  _You know that if you leave now, Tony will just drop everything to find you._

K stopped and turned, but when she didn't see the redhead nearby, she locked her jaw and focused to respond to her.  _No he won't._

 _He will if I ask him to,_  Jean replied.  _Katie is looking forward to the wedding. We're too close for you to just ditch._

K sighed and let her shoulders drop as she wrapped her arms around her middle, going back to her room.  _Fine. I'll stay for your wedding. For Katie._

When there was no more responses from Jean, K headed back to her room to climb into bed and try to sleep. It wasn't coming easy since the break up, and it really didn't help that her pillow still smelled like Tony. She closed her eyes to keep her emotions under control, but pulled her pillow tighter, wrapping her arms around it and burying her nose in the best spot. It didn't do a thing to stop her from wanting to just … head down the hall to his room and apologize and try to take it back though. She just … had to get through it. Or get through the wedding anyhow. Then? Then she'd see where she decide if she was going to stay with the heroes or disappear.


	53. Team Family

Logan didn't get back from his little trip to clear his head until the day before the wedding - and he, along with much of the two teams, had no idea what had happened with Tony and K. As it was, most of the adults didn't know  _anything_ had happened, but the kids thought they had it figured out.

He'd gotten in just after bed time, but as it turned out, little Kurt had  _exceptionally_ good sense when it came to knowing when his favorite adult had returned from one of his outings. Logan was in a foul mood - not quite to his door when he heard someone trying to creep and sneak. He glanced down the hall where he'd just come and didn't see anyone … so then he looked up to find Kurt peeking around the corner from the ceiling with wide eyes.

"You should be in bed," Logan said when he spotted him.

"I was afraid you weren't going to be here for the wedding," Kurt told him. "Jean would have been heartbroken."

Logan let out a derisive little snort at that. "Oh yeah, I'm sure she'd be in tears," he replied the sarcasm clear in his tone.

Kurt crossed his arms from where he sat on the wall for a moment, then crawled down far enough for Logan to pick him off the wall and set him on the floor. "You missed all the  _important_ stuff, Logan."

"Yeah, pretty sure I came back for the important stuff," Logan grumbled as he stepped into his room and dropped his travel bag next to the laundry basket.

"Well you missed Kitty learning how to do an incredibly graceful spin in ballet class - that she followed up with a round house kick at Hawkeye that had Miss Tasha laughing out loud." Logan smirked as Kurt continued. "And you missed Wanda losing a no-magic bet with Vision that had him smiling  _all day._ And the professor lost a game of chess to Scott the same day that K dumped Iron Man-" Kurt said, tipping his chin up and clearly slipping it in to see if Logan was paying attention. "-she went away for the rest of the weekend, but came back in time for Storm's lightning show. I think she might have been hiding from the electricity though-"

"Wait, hold on," Logan said, frowning at him. "What are you talkin' about?"

"The lightning show - I'm sure that both of you might need to hide if the lighting was heavy enough, considering your metal ske-"

"Did you come here just to tell me about K?" Logan asked, frowning down at him.

Kurt smiled impishly. "Perhaps …" kurt smiled wider. "Is that information you'd want to know? Or perhaps you want to know that he's packing up his things and leaving…"

Logan held up a hand as he narrowed his eyes. "Go to bed, Elf."

"I'm just trying to catch you up!"

"Sure you are," he said, pushing the little boy out and then closing the door behind him. "Go to sleep. You gotta make the women swoon tomorrow."

Kurt rolled his eyes and shook his head. " _Lacherlich_ ," he muttered, his tail switching behind him as he headed off down the hall.

Logan on the other hand took a moment to run his hand through his hair as he thought it over for a moment, then immediately abandoned the temptation to think about that ball of worms until it was corroborated by a more reliable source. He stripped on the way to his bathroom and spent a good long time just washing the road dust off. Of course, it didn't help him much when his mind started to drift to Kurt's gossip.

Admittedly, it took Logan a lot longer than he normally took after a trip to clean up … but when he came out, Natasha was waiting there on the loveseat reading a file that no doubt, she'd compiled herself. Logan tipped his chin up at her for a moment, but simply went to his dresser to get something to wear, waiting for her to say whatever it was that was on her mind. Just a matter of time, after all.

"Cutting it close aren't you?" Natasha asked finally - after he'd gotten a chance to at least get decent.

"Cuttin' it close'd be showin' up as she was walkin' down the aisle," Logan defended, pulling his shirt on over his head. "I came with plenty of time to spare."

Natasha smirked at that and got to her feet - only to cross the room and hand him a file. "On a strictly  _professional_ note, I've done a bit of recon on our most recent team acquisition. She's no longer a risk when it comes to damaging Stark, but at least I can't see anywhere in his system where she's stolen anything. Yet."

Logan frowned as Natasha pushed the manilla folder into his hands. This … wasn't the confirmation he was looking for. "Toldja that ain't real likely, Nat."

"You're a little bit biased," Natasha said. "But as far as I can tell, there was no reason for her to compromise him like she did." She tipped her head his way. "And he's more compromised than I've seen from him in the past."

Logan watched her for a long moment and then tossed the manilla folder onto his dresser unread. "You give this to Scott?"

"He's getting married in the morning," Natasha said in a reasonable tone, one eyebrow quirking up for just an instan. "I don't want to unnecessarily burden him."

"Why me, then?"

"Oh please," she replied, waving one hand. "If you don't know where you stand with that team, maybe it's time you quit and stuck with us full time."

"Dream on, woman," Logan grumbled before the two of them held a very short - very intense faux staredown that ended with Natasha smirking and then rushing over to wrap him up in a tight hug.

"Are you planning to stay long,  _malen'kiy dyadya_?" she asked. "I know you weren't exactly excited about this wedding …"

"Wouldn't miss it," Logan replied. "I'd do anything for those two. Stickin' around to watch 'em get married's a cake walk."

"And it should be easier now that you don't have to watch Stark get more serious with-"

"That's enough, Tash," Logan said cutting her off. "Too far."

She blinked at him as she pulled back from the hug - honestly expecting him to have taken a little picking with a lot more ease. But she wasn't about to show her card either. "Let me know if you need anything."

"Will do," Logan promised before he gave her a kiss on the cheek and made a point to head to his bed, stretching out before Natasha left. But once she was gone …

Logan waited a long moment, listening to her soft footsteps as she padded down the hall, and when he knew she was gone, he got up and retrieved the file she'd made to settle in and read what exactly K had been up to in his absence, not honestly expecting even half of what Natasha had dug up.

It didn't make sense, and he knew that Natasha's outlook was a little skewed when it came to K, but this … either Natasha was right and K had been playing a very long game with Tony and his heart, or … the little feral woman had shot herself in the foot by dropping Stark as a romantic entanglement. And the only way he'd know for sure was to see her himself, up close and personal.

Logan swore to himself. If he'd known this was going on, he'd have come back sooner, if for no other reason than to ensure that he wasn't using Jean and Scott's  _wedding_ as grounds for a soft interrogation. He glanced at the clock and frowned deeper. It was too late to casually appear at her door. There was no other option than to try and sleep - which he knew wasn't likely - and try to observe her before the wedding - again, fat chance.

Logan put the file back on his dresser and tried to settle in - suddenly a lot more anxious and uneasy than he'd been before Natasha had shown up with her mined information.

* * *

As much as K would have liked to simply ignore the group of heroes and disappear, it was impossible to miss the buzz as the Summers-Grey wedding crept finally arrived, though at least she'd managed to make the break clean  _before_ the X-Men's ceremony. But outside of wrecking both Tony and her plans for a date to said wedding … she really had a much better shot at simply disappearing now. If she had tried it beforehand, she was entirely sure that the gathered group of heroes would postpone the damn thing and start looking. Just on principle. Besides, she wasn't entirely sure where she stood at this point with any of them - clearly  _not_ on either team … baby sitter? Finally under arrest? It was a pretty wickedly gray area. And no one was talking about it, so … she simply did her best to fly under the radar as she headed with Katie to where they were setting up the ceremony.

The wedding itself was everything that the combined forces of Jan's party-planning and Jean's imagination could throw together. All of the girls had the cutest short dresses on, with spaghetti straps and poofy skirts. And since Paige was the flower girl, hers had a pretty bow to match her little crown of flowers.

The boys, of course, were in the full dapper tuxes - including Josh, who was sitting in Jean's sister's lap and generally misbehaving, giggling, and pulling her hair.

The X-Men had never seen Scott grin  _that_ wide before, and it was clear he wasn't going to stop. Especially when Paige was giggling and made sure to hand a whole handful of flowers to Natasha with a  _very_ significant look that was so obvious Sam also stopped by Natasha and told her, very seriously, that he wanted to do this for her too before they made it the rest of the way down the aisle.

Which, of course, had Clint laughing hard and trying to hide it.

When Jean arrived on her father's arm, beaming broadly, the crowd of heroes, friends, and family fell into a hush, grinning at their friend as she nearly floated down the aisle. She'd gone for the perfect summer look, with a dress that came to her knees and showed off her shoulders that Jan had designed and fit to her perfectly. She had her hair swept up off her neck, showing off the string of pearls that her mother had tearfully helped her put on not even half an hour ago.

"You sure you're ready for this? She's way out of your league, big brother," Alex said when the men at the altar caught sight of Jean and her father.

"Shut up, Alex. You've got the rings, don't you?" Scott said.

"I made sure Josh has them, yeah, but -"

"Then just be there and smile for me so I don't have to kill you on my wedding day," Scott said, cutting his brother off, and getting a huge grin out of not only Alex and his other groomsmen, but from his future bride. Anyone outside of Alex watching him could see that Scott was completely blown away and hyper focused on his  _bride_ , not his brother's antics.

Jean couldn't help but to smile to herself when she saw it, either, both unwilling and unable to stop herself from reaching out through their telepathic bond well before her father had gotten her to the altar.  _Hey, Mr. Summers._

Scott grinned a little wider as her father kissed Jean's cheek and gently placed her hands into Scott's.  _You look amazing,_ Scott projected back to her as the minister began to speak.

Jean smiled at that.  _No hello?_

_I'm saving that for when I can call you Mrs. Summers._

Jean could only smile that much wider at that. And as far as the rest of the gathered group could see, neither of them got  _out_ of each other's heads until it came time for the vows.

"Jean, I…" Scott swallowed. "I've loved you since the day I saw you. And every day after that. I can't imagine my life without you in it, and I'm thrilled that we've already started to build the life we talked about." He smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. "You and me, Jean. Us against the world. That's just about the only constant I've had since we met. So I promise to be constant for you."

Jean couldn't stop her smile. "Scott Summers, I loved you first," she said, which got an even wider grin out of him. "As soon as I met you, I wanted you to love me, so when you said you did, that was it. I had the world." She smiled. "All the power I've got and I've only ever wanted you. Always and forever. So that's what I'm promising you: forever."

"Kiss her!" Paige called out gleefully - and that's exactly what happened next.

The gathered group burst into applause, especially when the newlyweds lifted off the ground in the kiss, and then they simply headed off together, leading the way to where there was sure to be plenty of celebrating - and not much talking from either Scott or Jean, the way things were going.

It was a chance for everyone to blow off some steam, too - and for the kids to have a blast celebrating Paige, Sam, and Josh's parents finally being married. And for the adults, there was dancing.

Clint didn't need the prompting to take Natasha out onto the dance floor, of course, even if Sam and Paige both were pushing anyway. Wanda and Vision were among some of the first out on the floor too.

And to K's surprise, as soon as Katie bounded off giggling with Teddy and Billy, Steve offered her a hand to take a spin on the dance floor too. "May I?"

"Did someone set you up to this?" she asked even as she cautiously took his hand. "Because you don't have to."

"It's a wedding, K," Steve said with a warm smile as he pulled her onto the floor. "I don't need to be prompted to ask a pretty girl to dance who doesn't have a dance partner. Especially when everyone around her is celebrating."

"Alright, if you say so," she said as she watched what it was he was setting up to lead her through. "And thanks."

"My pleasure. Of course, it's just how I was raised," Steve said with a small smile. "Though I have to admit - I am curious as to why you're not dancing with Tony."

"You know we broke up, right?" K said. "Because I'm pretty sure that on it's own is a good enough reason."

"I guess I just don't understand why you split," Steve admitted. "I thought you were both - well, you seemed to  _work_ so great."

"It's kind of complicated. And kind of not," she said in a sigh. "But not by any fault of his. In this case, it was all on me. He'll be happier in the long run."

"Are you sure?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, I think so," she said, forcing a little smile. "Not that I'm not questioning myself all the time."

"It just seems like a shame. I know it was good for both of you. Healthy even."

"You're right - on all counts," K admitted in a much softer tone. "But I'm very sure if you want the full story that we can do this somewhere other than at a wedding. I can't … really talk about this right now and keep my composure." At that Steve's lips parted and he frowned slightly before K continued. "I'll tell you if you need to know. Just not right now."

"Well, far be it from me to drag up drama at a wedding. Why don't we just dance instead?" Steve offered, already looking like he was going into 'protect' mode on hearing how much she was upset. "You don't have to tell me anything. Not until it's well behind you, okay?"

"Please," K agreed with a little forced smile as she adjusted her hands on his shoulders. Steve pulled her into a little spin at that before he tried to keep his smile in place as they danced.

And while K was dancing with Steve, Jan had pulled Tony out onto the dance floor, too, trying to get a smile out of her old friend as she whispered, "I wonder if Cap wants a repeat performance of that frisking."

Tony paused and glanced across the dance floor, hesitating for just a moment before he broke into a brilliant grin. "You know what? It wouldn't surprise me."

Jan giggled. "Ah well. Poor Cap."

"Anyone else hit your pity radar?" Tony asked, one eyebrow raised and desperate to change the subject. He thrust his chin out as he turned from watching K dancing with Steve to look at … well. Anything else, really.

"Oh, well, hmm…" Jan pushed her lower lip out as she pretended to think about it. "I'd have to put Natasha on that list, just because she doesn't like being pushed into things and the kids  _know_ she's dragging her feet."

Tony barked out a laugh at that. "Yeah, well I'm sure she'll be really put out when she volunteers to watch the three tiny Summerses so they can work on a fourth."

"Oh, I hope they have one soon," Jan giggled.

"You have baby clothes plotted out already, don't you?" He gave her a reasonably scandalized look. "You've got baby clothes picked out for everyone, don't you, Ms Van Dyne?"

"Maybe!" she laughed. "I think Clint and Natasha will have redheads to match the Summerses, don't you?"

"Probably," he said dryly. "It's dominant anyhow. Not guaranteed, but ..."

"There you go." Jan grinned up at him. "And then, of course, there's no telling with Wanda and Vision."

"You know … if you go by theory, both of those kids were modelled after her and Pietro … makes me wonder who she'd model after for round two."

"Ooooh, green hair!" Jan giggled. "Please!"

"It'd go against your sea of red at least," Tony teased.

"I know, and can you imagine the Christmas cards?" Jan bounced in place. "You've got Steve and his little blonde, and they match - well. They match until he turns green anyhow, and then on the opposite side of the spectrum, Professor X and Kurt!"

"Assuming that everyone does that," Tony said. "I can't imagine everyone gathering up for pictures. Could be awkward for some people."

"You and Happy should take one together," Jan teased. "Just the two of you! Peter can get a more 'official' one but can you  _imagine_."

Tony let out a breath of disbelief. "Yeah, that absolutely isn't the kind of family portrait I want."

"Oh, come on. I'll come if you  _neeeeed_ more people. I don't have anyone anyway. We'll get Happy in the middle. You kiss one cheek and I'll kiss the other and he won't be anything but red for a long time!"

"Let's just put a pin in that one, hmm?"

"You're more fun when you're drunk," Jan teased. "Drunk Tony would kiss Happy with me."

"Cap wants to throttle my drunk time down," Tony replied as he couldn't help but glance over to where Cap and K were still dancing - and Cap was grinning broadly. "Kinda makes me want to piss him off."

"Ooh, yes please. I loved that stuff you had last time. And we didn't finish the bottle!"

" _We_  didn't …  _I_ did."

Jan let out a huff. "Rude!"

"Don't encourage him!" Steve shouted from a lot closer to them than he'd been before. On seeing them that close, Tony tipped his chin up and mildly turned his head away as if he was watching something in the opposite direction. And though K caught it and bit her lip, looking down and trying to find a way to gracefully bow out of her ongoing dance with Steve, Jan clearly missed Tony's redirect.

"Hey! I make sure he gets home safe and sound and doesn't make bad decisions. What more do you want from me?" Jan replied in mock-irritation.

"More to it than that, Jan, and you know it." Steve answered with a fairly serious look before he realized how both K and Tony were actively avoiding even looking at each other - and gently shifted course to give her a little breathing room well away from Tony.

Jan rolled her eyes at Steve's comment and then looked back up at Tony, drawing his attention away from the far off imaginary distraction. "What do you think?" she asked. "Steve has a point, but… it's a special occasion.  _Just_ special occasions, right?"

Tony tipped his head. "Hard for him to stop me when he's not in my face anyhow."

Jan shook her head. "Hey. You've got a reason to drink. Me too."

"Yeah? What's your reason?" Tony asked, his chin tipped up slightly.

Jan paused and then bit her lip. "Just…" She shrugged. "Just worried about the best friend I have in the world."

"Pretty sure drinking won't help with that," Tony said. "And I'm just … being stupid, I suppose."

"Hey, drinking  _with_ you is helping me not worry that you're going to turn around and, I don't know, fall in love with some masked psycho who wants to kill you or something."

"You … don't have to worry about that any time soon," Tony said, almost wincing.

"Never know. Drunk Tony does weird things, so I try and stick around, okay?" Jan said, poking him in the chest.

"Jan, you don't need to spend all your time babysitting me," Tony said.

"I'll stop when you're okay," Jan said. "Not like I can stop worrying about you anyway, so might as well, right?"

"Define 'okay'," he said, one eye closed. "Because there's most people's okay, and then there's my version of okay - and then there's  _actually_  okay …"

"Well, when I stop thinking you're going to drink yourself into stupidity…"

"So when I'm dead," he said flatly, then continued before she could retort. "I'll be fine, really. Just … got hit a little harder than I thought it should have. Kinda saw it coming if I really think about it. Just … ignored all of her warnings. Thought I was okay by the way I laid it out … timeline .. .expectations ..." he faded off, letting his statement hang and for a moment, Jan was shocked - though she was quick to recover.

"Well, in the meantime," Jan said, pushing her smile a little wider for him as she straightened his collar, "dance with me, okay?"

"Sure," Tony replied with a soft smile. "At least until some masked assassin drops in… you know how it is."

"I'll keep an eye out."

Steve had finally gotten tapped out of his dance with K. It had taken several songs, and the two of them had found a nice little rhythm together that was easy enough to stick with. He wasn't about to let K hide in the corner if he could help it, and though neither of them knew it, there was a decent collection of guys that were planning to follow Steve's lead. K just hadn't been expecting the person who tapped him out.

"Mind if I cut in?" Scott asked with an almost timid smile. Steve paused for just a moment and looked  _proud_  as his smile got more warm, though K was clearly almost lost at the offer.

"Sure," K said as she stepped back from Steve. "Watch his left foot though."

Scott laughed. "With you, K," he said. "Come on. Clint has Jean, and Sam has Natasha cornered."

"Well I guess it's your wedding," she said in a breath before she gave Steve a very soft 'thank you' as she squeezed his arm. She turned to Scott once their little dance started up and let out a breath before she put on a muted sort of smile. "Congratulations, by the way."

"Thanks." Scott grinned widely. "It's been - well, exactly what I wanted.  _We_ wanted."

"I'm glad, you're a good match," she said, looking across the dance floor to see who was paired off where.

"I know," Scott said. "And I know how lucky I am."

"Don't ever forget it," she advised. "That's rare and very beautiful."

"Yeah, I know." Scott held his breath for a moment and then gave K a small smile. "I'm glad you're here."

"Everyone was," she replied. "I'm pretty sure it was required."

Scott shook his head. "That's not what I meant." He rubbed his neck with the hand he'd had on her back. "For the record, I would have invited you anyway. You were there when we got engaged, after all."

"Scott, I was unconscious," she said quietly. "And you'd have invited half the world so you could show them how much you're in love with her."

"Well, true, but…" He shook his head. "Look, I know what happened with Stark. And I'm  _trying_ to tell you I'd like you to stay anyway." He shrugged, smiling lightly. "That's all."

"I didn't  _say_ I was going anywhere," she said with one eyebrow raised slightly and a tiny smirk in place.

"Alright, so Jean picked up on your desire to leave. But that's not the point," Scott said. "The point is, well, the  _point_ of this team is family. You might not have a badge, but you're under our roof. And that includes you. You're a part of this now."

"That's a very noble thought, thanks, Scott," she replied. "I'll keep that in mind."

He smiled lightly. "Hey, day's about love, right? I'm trying to honor that."

"You're doing great," she assured him. "Don't mind me, I'm just not quite myself. That's all. Your whole team has been wonderful."

"Helps when you've made half of us parents," Scott said, looking toward where Jean's sister was still playing with Josh. "Like I said: family means a lot here."

"That wasn't really my intention," she said. "But I'm happy for all of you. Really."

"Hope you get there too," Scott said as the song came to an end.

"Maybe," she agreed, not wanting to sink his mood when she was reasonably sure that was a long shot. "Congratulations again - really."

"See you when we get back," Scott said, grinning her way as he deftly put her hand in Remy's before he left to catch up with Jean. And Scott earned a surprised laugh from his blushing bride when he picked her up and spun her to keep her away from anyone else.

It was a precious moment - and one that even got an honest little smile out of K - but the truth of the matter was that all of the sweetness and the incredibly dedicated family vibe had her ready to just …  _run_. Hard and far and to never look back, and the fact that she'd been fighting that impulse for so long really wasn't working in her favor anymore. What's more, she almost didn't realize the sudden wash of calm as Remy pulled her a little closer for a spin. She frowned at that and then looked up to find him smirking crookedly. "Ain't got nuttin' better to do then dance wit' ol' Remy anyhow,  _petit,_ " Remy told her. "Might as well make de most of it an' enjoy the  _soiree_ , no?"

K frowned at him, but didn't argue for a moment, much less conflicted the longer Remy kept holding onto her. Until she remembered what  _exactly_ he could do. "You're screwing with my emotions," she said - clearly a statement and not an accusation at all.

Remy just smirked crookedly and shrugged one shoulder lightly. "Ain' no reason fo' such a pretty t'ing like yo'self to be dat upset. You didn' lose nothin'- not one  _bit_ by walkin' 'way from dat ol' rich boy. Jes mean you got more in dat head den even he give you credit for,  _cher._ " Remy made a sound from the back of his throat. "'Sides … you know it gon' be hard to follow up an act like you,  _cher."_

K rolled her eyes at him for that, one eyebrow raised, though before she could respond, he was quick to break into a lighthearted laugh and spin her close and quick until she really had to hold on to him or fall. It was crystal clear that Remy was taking up Steve's intent - and she honestly felt more like trash knowing that those in the know were making a point to have  _pity_ on her.

So as a few of the heroes started pairing off for another dance, K quietly excused herself from Remy with a little kiss on his cheek then began to find her path to head out, shoes in hand right out of the party and toward the woods.

She didn't make it too far without picking up a tail though. Halfway to the woods, she spun on her heel to find Logan a few paces back, hands in his pockets as if this was a well travelled path that  _all_ the wedding guests would be taking. "I don't need a sitter," K said. "And I don't really think I can keep going along with all the pity from your friends."

"Good," he replied. "I don't feel like babysittin' anyone and I sure as hell don't bother with pity." She narrowed her eyes but kept walking until he broke the silence again. "You know where you're goin', darlin'?"

"Depends on if you're following me all the way or not."

Logan smirked and did a little quick step to catch up again. "Consider it a yes," he replied. "Not smart to go wanderin' around alone, even if Magneto did manage to trash Weapon X. There are still plenty of others that'd love to scoop you up. 'Specially when you an' Stark were so out in the open together."

K frowned at that. He wasn't wrong, but this … this was not part of her exodus. "Then I guess no, I don't know where I'm going," she admitted slowing to a stop, then turning to face him.

"You want to keep a place to yourself that I don't know about," Logan said with a nod, his hands in his pockets as he came to a stop in front of her. "I get that. But until you clear your head and figure out how to deal with this mess you managed to end up in, you can use one of my spots."

"Another safe house," she said quietly, relaxing slightly. "Or is it the same one in Japan?"

"We could go to Japan," he offered. "Kitty'll be jealous, but we can go there if you like."

"Probably not the best of ideas," K said before something like a smile pulled at the corner of her mouth. "That kimono was on Avalon …" Logan raised an eyebrow and gave her a single, slow nod with a matching 'ah' that had K more deeply regretting not planning ahead to move that gorgeous gift of silk to somewhere safe on the ground  _before_ Magneto died and Avalon was lost. "Sorry about that. It was gorgeous."

Logan couldn't help but smirk more to himself than anything since she was resolutely being sure not to look him in the face. "I'll get you another one," he said. "When you go back to Japan with me."

They were quiet for a long while as she tried to decide what to do. She was sure that the X-Men had sent him to keep an eye on her - which made the idea that her time with the teams really was probationary before a lock up. For the first time, she was almost welcoming the thought of one of the big global forces like SHIELD or even the Russians taking control of her entirely. At least then she wouldn't have to think … and instances where she might run into Tony or the super hero team were almost non existent. Maybe … maybe that was the mercy she was looking for. They could go their separate ways that way. No chance of cross over … and the last criminal that worked with Erik would be dealt with.

She glanced over to Logan - not up but over, since he was only marginally taller than her - and she watched him as she thought of the peaceful hideout in Japan before she finally nodded. "I was thinking something more … north."

"I can do that too," Logan said. "Just let me warn Tasha she'll be sittin' for more than just the Guthrie kids. You weren't gonna just leave Katie hangin' were you?"

K blinked at him and shook her head. "I hadn't really decided yet," K admitted before she rubbed her hand across her face.

That was enough to get Logan to pay a little closer attention to exactly how stressed out she was over all of it. "Alright, listen. Here's what we're gonna do. I've got a buddy that can bring a car, we'll grab it and head out. Get away from both sides for a while. I wasn't in the mood to deal with 'em myself anyhow. You can stay as long as you need, but once you figure it out, you gotta go back. At least for her. If you don't wanna stay, I won't stop you from leaving. But clear your head before you make any more stupid decisions."

K frowned at him a little harder for that. She'd thought Logan was there for babysitting purposes, or even to take her to Fury and SHIELD. But she was reasonably sure that in any case, he'd have been the very last person - outside of Janet, maybe - that would tell her leaving Tony was a mistake. "If you think that I don't know you dropped Stark out of  _panic_ , you're out of your damn mind," Logan said, cutting into her thoughts. "I get it. But don't think you can lie about it to me."

"Alright," K said, relaxing more in that moment than she had in the past several weeks as she changed direction then took a seat on a log.

Logan had his arms crossed and was waiting to hear more than a lukewarm 'okay' before he made his way over to take a seat with her. "Don't worry about anything," Logan said. "I'll make sure no one bugs you while you get away from 'em."

* * *

Meanwhile, the party had been going on in their absence, and though both of the ferals would have given a solid 'told you' on hearing that their absence hadn't been spotted yet … it wasn't entirely true, either.

It was true that Tony had noticed her absence, though he had attributed it to her not wanting to be in the crowd, he honestly hadn't thought she'd simply  _left._  He'd frowned to himself on seeing her gone and thought for a moment about going after to … do… something, but instead, he picked up a bottle of single malt scotch and headed out himself - just to make sure he didn't have to witness the travesty of the bouquet and garter tosses.

Which was just in time since Jean was all set for the bouquet toss. She already had plans for it, too. With so many excited little ones, she honestly couldn't decide if she wanted to hit little Katie and see how purple Kurt turned or give it to Paige, who was already planning to shove them at Natasha. It was a tough call since she  _knew_ how upset Katie had been since the big break up, but it was because of it that had Jean ultimately deciding to spoil Paige a little. After all, they were  _officially_ all a family now, and Paige could use a little spoiling while much of the teams were looking out for Katie - Hawkeye especially.

Jean tossed the flowers over her shoulder and  _absolutely_ cheated with her telekinesis to make sure they got to Paige. Who promptly turned around and shoved them at Natasha. "Okay, now you got flowers and everything so you can ask 'im, okay?" Paige insisted - which had Jean laughing even harder.

Especially when Scott caught up to her, kissed her, and then whispered, "Think you can hit Clint next?"

Jean giggled at that. " _You're_ the one tossing it."

"But  _you_ can guide it."

"Good point."

Scott smirked, and surprised Jean when he didn't wait for any prompting to go for the garter so he could do the toss. There were  _multiple_ wolf whistles and cheers - though the task to keep her modesty was a little more complex for as short as her dress was, but … it wasn't much time before Scott came up grinning with the garter between his teeth - to Clint's complete support as he led the group of eligible bachelors cheering him on.

_You're terrible, Mr. Summers._

_You married me, Mrs. Summers,_ Scott shot back, grinning wider before he lined up for the toss… which, Jean was sure to 'help' the garter to Clint, who looked like he wasn't even surprised at this point as he caught it and then started laughing.

Jean laughed too, watching the guests tease and pick on each other. Though she couldn't help but notice one particular bachelor was missing…

Jean's smile slipped as she turned to look for him, noticing that not only Logan was gone, but Tony too … and after a moment or two of frowning slightly as the crowd whipped up into a fresh round of cheers, Jean noticed there was another absence in K simply no longer being danced with by the various men on the teams.

She wondered for a moment if she'd slipped off with Tony - K had been regretting her decision awfully hard. The guilt she was carrying over that was impressive, especially since Jean  _knew_ that it had been K's call - and she honestly still didn't understand K's reasoning, even after Jan had explained it. Jean could only see it as letting Azazel win, and that on its own had the fire sparking up in Jean's eyes.

But then … then she decided to reach out to check on Logan since, in all honesty, she knew Logan was still carrying a torch for K, and when she found him with a gentle brush of his mind, she quickly saw that the two ferals were together in a tenuous partnership and headed  _out_. She could see that Logan had some serious concerns - and when she reached out to K, she could see a much more grim interpretation of Logan's presence, which … Jean was very sure Logan could overcome with a little luck.  _I'm not even going to begrudge him the shot,_ she decided. After all, she was happy, and Scott was happy - he should at least have a chance to try it out too.

But as she took Scott's hand for another dance, she picked up on Natasha's incredibly split frame of mind. There was honest concern and  _entertained_ thoughts when she got the call that Logan needed her to watch over Katie too. It was clear Natasha thought the idea of Logan and K spending some time together had potential for absolute destruction - or a perfect pairing.

But Jean wasn't about to entertain the negative thoughts. Not when she knew how honestly torn up K was over breaking Tony's heart. Jean grinned wider as Scott picked her up to carry her off at the end of the dance.  _We might come back to a few changes if all goes well, Mr. Summers,_ she projected to Scott.

 _That's nice, Mrs. Summers. We can be surprised when we get back_ , Scott said and pulled her into a long kiss as Clint pelted them with birdseed - and all the kids cheerfully joined in.


	54. Exodus

The beginning of the trip north had been a little odd for both little ferals. Neither of them had grabbed anything to travel with - and that meant that both of them were still in their dress clothes - though as the night got a bit of a chill, Logan had offered her his jacket, making them look even more odd as they slipped through the woods together.

She couldn't help but glance at him now and again wondering when he was going to detain her - or knock her out - or  _something_. But nothing happened. Even when they were well beyond the sounds and smells - and  _walls_ of the institute, Logan simply kept pace with her and offered her a hand now and again when they'd hit an obstacle in their path that was a little harder to traverse than she could manage bare-footed.

But eventually, they came to a road in the middle of the woods, and the two of them paused for just a moment as Logan double checked not only the little device at his side, but checked the wind and then cautiously stepped out onto the wide-open roadway. It took a few moments, but very suddenly, K realized they weren't alone. Their company was smart - she couldn't scent them out until the wind finally blew into her face - and then there was the slight scent of gun oil, but no sign of a shooter. She couldn't stop the natural reaction to stiffen - ready to fight before she glanced down to see that she had a laser target that was glowing over her heart. "Logan … is this your friend?" she asked, though she hadn't moved a muscle on seeing the shooter's aim.

Logan glanced to her, then followed the path of the beam with before he raised his voice. "She's with me, Mav." There was a beat or two before just as suddenly as it had appeared, the dot on K's chest turned off and a few moments later, she spotted the movement across the road and well into the woods as Maverick came down from his vantage point.

"Car's over here," Maverick called out. "Got a full tank of gas in it - don't worry. I'll put it on your tab. I don't expect to get it back, let alone in one piece with any gas in it."

Logan let out a breath and waved K forward to join him as he headed toward Maverick. "Didn't ask for a sniper," Logan said.

"Yeah, well, you're welcome." Maverick took just a moment to look K over once before he tipped his chin up and opened the trunk of the car - only to return with a stack of clothes. "They were my … ah. Friend's." Maverick paused, glancing between Logan and K as neither moved, instead letting Maverick dig his own hole. "She … you know what? Nevermind. Hopefully they'll fit. More or less."

He handed K the clothes and immediately did the same for Logan - in addition to a set of keys for the car. The two men began to speak in low tones - half or better of it in a code that the two of them had developed after years and years of working together. And while both of the men were looking the other way, K set the stack of clothes on the hood of the car. The jeans were clearly going to be too long - no shocker there, they almost always were.

K glanced over toward Logan and Maverick - both of them seemed to be overly wrapped up in their little talk, so she simply set her heels down and started pulling the jeans on. It was a little big all the way around, but it shouldn't fall off. One last look back at the guys and K turned her back to them to take the dress off and then pull the tee over her head. And by the time she turned around … well. She hadn't missed anything. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the car, unwilling to interrupt them, though if she got cold, she wasn't against simply leaving alone through the woods.

Maverick was trying to be quick - filling Logan in on what exactly he was expecting him to do with the car when they got to their destination. Of course, Maverick wasn't exactly excited to fill in all the blanks with what he perceived as a hostile listening in.

By the time the two of them had paused in their chat, K was starting to get cold, and when they turned her way, both of them stopped speaking. Obviously they hadn't expected her to change quite so quickly, or to do so without looking for better cover. "Can I borrow your flannel?" K asked - though she didn't specify who, and Logan was certainly quicker to hand her the one on his stack of clothes before David could take his off. She thanked him quietly as she pulled it over her shoulders then returned to the car, leaving Logan and Maverick to finish their talk.

"You sure this is going to be alright?" Maverick asked, very subtly looking past Logan to where K had climbed into the front seat. "The program …"

"Program's dead," Logan said. "And she was killin' anyone involved when I met her."

"Yeah, but Logan, technically,  _we're_ on that list too," Maverick pointed out, frowning at the back of K's head.

"Mav, if she'd wanted to kill me, she'd have done it when I was hurt in Japan," Logan replied. "She's not the program anymore. As much as I'm sure they wanted her to be, she's just not."

"Yeah, I saw the stuff the Avengers 'leaked' out after what I can only assume was a mild misunderstanding with Pym… but still."

Logan didn't even try to argue with him, knowing he had his mind made up already. "Tell you what, old man. If I need anything I'll reach out," Logan promised before he headed for the car where K was trying to get settled in.

"You know, it'd be nice if I got a thank you now and again," Maverick called back to him.

"I suppose it would," Logan agreed. He frowned to himself before he got in the car - the long standing back and forth with Maverick unbroken seeing as neither of them had thanked the other yet in their tenuous friendship. Logan had barely started the car before he watched Maverick slip off into the woods. "Ride'll take some time."

"Are we meeting up with any of your other friends that want me dead, because I'm pretty sure I can find those on my own without announcing I'm coming."

"He's just bein' cautious," Logan replied before he put it in gear and headed off.

"Well it certainly explains why you aren't captive somewhere," K said. "All this time I thought it was just because you were  _that good_ , but now … seems like a lot of it is just the right friends in the right places."

Logan smirked at that. "Let's get something straight right now," he said, turning to look at her. "I  _am_ that good. But havin' friends in low places also means I don't gotta be that good all the time." He turned back to the road. "Bein' top shelf all the time's wearin' on a fella."

K smirked to herself and then wrapped the flannel shirt around her middle a little tighter as she settled in. "I have a lot of questions."

"So do I," Logan replied. "But you don't gotta answer 'em tonight."

"Thank you," K said with the corner of her mouth tugging against her best efforts. "For that too."

Logan didn't try nearly as hard to hide his own smirk at that. "Thanks for not runnin' when I offered."

K had been sure when she headed out with Logan that she wouldn't be able to relax enough to rest, but … once she got halfway comfortable, her eyes drifted shut on their own accord and K nodded off, her arms wrapped around her middle and nearly folded over in her seat.

* * *

The party was drawing to a close - several hours after Jean and Scott had actually headed out for their honeymoon - and the kids at Xaviers were starting to honestly wear down. After a long day and night of playing and dancing and giggling madly, Katie was more than a little tired and finally - she she turned away from Kurt and Kitty in search of her Mom.

She was still smiling by the time she crossed the dance floor, but she didn't get too far before Jean's sister spotted her looking absolutely lost. "Are you okay, sweetheart?" Sara asked, smiling kindly and looking so much like Jean that Katie was almost confused - if not for the fact that she'd watched Jean leave with Scott.

"I can't find my  _mom_ ," she said, looking a bit alarmed, though not yet panicking.

Sara offered Katie her hand. "I can help you, if you like."

Katie eyed her suspiciously, but kept her hands to herself. "O-kay," she said, then started leading the way darting from one open area to another in search of K. Once they'd made the rounds twice and still didn't see her, Katie stopped and frowned. "Maybe … maybe we should find Tony…."

Katie was perfectly still as she said it, frowning to herself before she looked up at Sara. "They were both real sad because they weren't kissing anymore, so maybe they started kissin' again because of the wedding."

But Clint had been close enough to read her lips as Katie came to that conclusion and he zipped by Natasha and the Guthrie kids to make his way over and crouch down for a quick hug. "Hey, Katie-Kate," he said with a bright smile. "You feel like having a sleepover with Nat and the blonde kids and me? We're gonna watch movies and eat cake for breakfast tomorrow."

Katie smiled at him and wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. "You're  _silly_. I want  _pancakes_ for breakfast."

"Of course you do," Clint laughed. "What do you say? Have a little fun with us? Your mom had to step out for a little bit. She's not gonna be home tonight."

Katie drooped on hearing it. "But she didn't kiss me goodbye," she said softly with a little sniffle, but then gathered herself up substantially. "Is she goin' to help more kids? Because she's real good at that, and I think that's what she did best before she got so busy kissin'  _Iron Man_."

Clint laughed out loud at that. "I don't know where she went, Katie-Kate, but I know she'll be back, and I know you're gonna want to play with us while she's gone. I'll even get you started on that new bow that Tony made up for you."

* * *

After the wedding, Jan had made sure that Tony didn't drink himself into stupidity. And then for several days after that, she started to very slowly try to throttle back the drinking. Steve was right; she needed to do more than just damage control. A little blowing off steam was one thing, but this … this was going well beyond a bender, and she had to figure out how to stop him before he got lost in it.

But she knew that Tony wasn't really  _alright,_ too. So she stuck around - not to help him polish off his wine collection but to try to get him to do other things too.

Like…

"Okay, but we have to watch  _all_ of the Indiana Jones movies. Even the weird second one."

"You got a thing for Harrison Ford?" Tony had to tease.

"Um, have you  _seen_ him shirtless?" Jan giggled.

"Hard not to if you watch  _any_ of those movies," he replied with a little laugh, though he couldn't help but glance down at his own chest. He was very sure she didn't realize it, but that … was an honest chink when it came to Tony's self esteem. Arc reactors had a way of mucking up the landscape if a solid chest was what a girl wanted to see. But very very few people knew that about him, and K had been one to figure it out. But that … didn't really make him feel any better right then. "I could probably set you up …"

"Oh, I'm sure you probably could," Jan said. "But first… I have popcorn, I have cocoa, and I have my favorite fuzzy slippers." She dropped down to sit next to him and picked up her feet so he could see the deep blue slippers.

Tony smirked and lifted his arm to rest on the couch behind her. "So lets put your dream guy on the screen already."

"You'll just have to pine for the revolving door of lady loves while I get the  _real_ eye candy."

"Yeah, try not to get too worked up," he laughed as she started the movie marathon. "I can't believe I let you talk me into this."

"Oh, come on," Jan said, plopping the bowl of popcorn in his lap. "Admit it. This is way better than drinking yourself to sleep."

"I … can't admit that because it's patently untrue," he said. "Drinking myself to sleep was working."

Jan shook her head. "Tony, come on."

"I'm trying it your way," he said, holding both hands up.

"My way is the fun way and involves Harrison Ford and  _fuzzy slippers_."

"I can think of a lot more fun ways that  _don't_ involve Harrison Ford." He stole a handful of her popcorn. "But you go ahead and carry on."

"I thought we agreed there would be no masked assassins," Jan said with mock severity.

"Well that's one off the list," he said under his breath.

"Aaaaand no setting the lab on fire," Jan listed off.

"Yeah, no, that means I'm up all night fixing things."

"So eat your popcorn and help me make fun of the movie. We'll even start with the second one so we can critique the  _terrible_ acting."

"Oh yeah, that sounds good," he laughed, settling in a little deeper, though they weren't far into it before the obnoxious commentary started. "You know, I wouldn't doubt someone out there now can do that whole … heart trick."

"That kind of wouldn't surprise me," Jan said, making a face. She gasped and turned Tony's way. "Oh my gosh. But like. I  _guarantee_ you if there was someone out there who did? It's some creeper who tries to use the 'I stole your heart' pickup line."

"Oh, man," he said low, shaking his head. "Yeah, I can see it. Easy to spot though. Just look for the curvy horn headdress."

"I love it when they announce themselves. Makes my job easier."

"They can't help themselves," Tony said.

"I mean, capes, Tony. Think about it. Do we know anyone who wears a cape who isn't a god or related to  _Magneto_?"

Tony blew out his breath and leaned his head back as he thought it over. "Well when you put it like that …"

"It's a scientific fact. You're either a god or at least  _related_ to evil if you have a cape. If I start wearing one, you'll know I've crossed over to the other side," Jan giggled.

"That can be our secret signal," he agreed.

"I could pull it off," she said. "I mean,  _Wasp_. We're mean."

"Not mean enough for capes," Tony said. "Wouldn't go with the wings anyhow."

"True. Ooh! I could do the kind that dips…. Attaches at the wrists… I'd go with deep reds and blacks…"

Tony made a face at that. "You could … or you could try to keep your secret super villain self at bay. Might get me drinking more otherwise."

"Aww, you've discovered my weakness," Jan said, leaning back with a smile. "I  _guess_ I won't bring out the Red Wasp."

"You could always use it to your advantage," Tony pointed out. "One less Avenger to vanquish."

"Good point," she said, nodding seriously. "I'd come out already ahead…"

"Not like that's hard to do right now," Tony said. "You've got us beat on any given day as it is."

"This is true," Jan said, sticking her nose in the air. "I'm amazing. You're all lucky I joined the team."

"We all are," he agreed as the movie progressed and he teased her about her Hollywood boyfriend. "Can't miss this. Got your eye candy scene."

Jan giggled. "What can I say? I like heroes, and I like abs."

"Oh, is that why you joined the team?"

Jan shrugged. "Well, it was certainly a perk," she said. "Plus, I get to kick butt, take names, and save the world.  _With handsome men all around me_. What girl could say no?"

"Lucky us," Tony chuckled. "Graced by the Wasp."

"And you know it," Jan laughed, leaning over to kiss his cheek. "That's why you're the smart one."

"Not the high IQ?" he teased before he snatched the mostly empty bowl and headed off to get more popcorn. "Anything else you need for your beefcake marathon - I mean .. action films?"

Jan grinned over the top of the couch at him. "Hmmm. Candy. For the eye candy."

"Pretty sure Thor's off world!" Tony shouted back.

"You'll just have to stand in for him! Get a blonde wig and a cape!"

"Nuh uh, not doing the cape thing. And blonde … no that just won't work with my coloring," he shot back.

"Not to mention the beard," Jan said.

"I like mine better," he said as he made his way back - not only with more popcorn but with a bag of m&m's for her.

Jan grinned and snagged the bag. "A-thank you very much."

He settled in right where he had been before, half reclined and partially draped over his section of the couch. "Have we moved on yet or is there more elephant riding in the future?"

"We have to kill the heart-stealer on the bridge and wave off the annoying entourage," Jan reported.

"I liked the entourage," he said.

Jan rolled her eyes. "Of course you did. Blonde and easy."

"They ride off into the elephant sunset," Tony defended. "I thought that was the part most girls liked. The whole … sunset thing."

Jan let out a sort of 'bah' sound. "I liked Miriam better."

"Of course you did. The one brunette," he said under his breath.

"And  _heroic_ , too," Jan said.

"She did an awful lot of screaming too," Tony pointed out. "But … she could drink."

"So, your favorite?" Jan teased. "Or are you really stuck on the easy blonde?"

"Hey. You got your eye candy, I gotta get something out of this movie thing too," Tony laughed.

Jan grinned and then leaned over to dump some of the M&Ms into the popcorn bowl so she could have a handful of both. "Oh, look. Elephant sunset. Just like you wanted."

"Pretty stupid choice, really," Tony said, shaking his head. "Have you  _been_ in the Indian jungle after dark? Not fun."

"No, but I went with Hank on a research trip to Sub-Saharan Africa just before a civil war broke out…"

He made a noise at the back of his throat. "Amazing part of the world with someone who would make it boring."

"Why do you think I went on that three-week cruise when I filed for divorce?" Jan asked.

"I honestly figured it was so he wouldn't follow you. Last place on earth he'd be is where there was any fun."

"Well, a little bit," Jan admitted. "But mostly, I just wanted to have fun."

"Didn't have to disappear for a month," he said.

"I needed it," Jan said, then tapped Tony in the middle of the chest. "Heartbreak. It's a thing. I travel; you drink."

"Just reminding me that I'm thirsty."

Jan tipped her head to the side. "Well… a little wine with Harrison Ford…."

"Of course, maybe I should travel a little instead. K seems to have gone AWOL. Steve was complaining the other day about that when she didn't show up when he paged her. Had some AIM thing he wanted her to join him for."

"Maybe she's like me - get out and clear your head kind of girl," Jan offered.

"From what she told me she was the get out and don't look back kind of girl," Tony said.

"Well, Katie's still around, so I think she's coming back."

"Yeah …" he paused thinking it over. "If she  _doesn't_ … I'll ask Katie if she wants to come here with Peter."

"I think she'd like that," Jan said with a smile. "And so would you, you big softie."

"Can't leave the kid alone like that," he said a lot softer. "Besides … I was reading her stories and tucking her in."

Jan watched him for a moment before she scooted over and gave him a solid snuggle. "You have such a big heart, Tony."

"No," he said, shaking his head as he gave her a one armed squeeze. "Just a big guilt complex for chasing her mom off."

"Nah, you love that little girl," Jan said. "I've seen you with her. It's the  _sweetest_ thing I've ever seen. You're such a squish."

"Well sure. That … she's a great kid."

"Tony, I'm trying to tell you how sweet you are. You of all people should know how to take a compliment?" she teased.

"Must be off my game," he said as diplomatically as he could.

"Well, then no drinking for you tonight," she said with a crooked grin.

"While you're  _here_ anyhow," he said under his breath - absolutely meaning for her to hear it.

"Oh, that is a challenge. I'm  _moving in_ ," Jan said. "Happy will help me. You'll have to watch  _Star Wars_ and listen to Han Solo's good points."

"Oh man, and just after I decided not to go on a binge," Tony said, shaking his head at her. "Oh look. Another bimbo." he pointed at the screen. "She had to be the worst one out of all of them."

"Well, obviously. The Nazi," Jan sniffed.

"Pretty to a fault, lied every step of the way …"

"Yeah, you're not allowed near any girls like that," Jan said.

He let out a bark of a laugh. "Look at the track record, honey."

"I am, and that's why I've appointed myself your guardian angel. No need to thank me; it's all in the line of duty," Jan sang out.

"Tired of kissing the wrong girls anyhow," he muttered.

"Aww, Tony." Jan let out a breath and then picked her head up to look at him better. "I liked this latest girl of yours, for the record. You need to find someone who makes you that happy, alright? I'll help."

He hedged a little at that though. "Not sure I want to look. Yet. Of course."

"Well, I'll stick with you until you're happy, alright?" Jan said with a smile.

It took a little bit for them to settle in after that, but it didn't last long once they were comfortable again … not when there was such  _Bad_  acting on the screen and ridiculous action scenes that had both of them laughing outright … but even that wasn't as bad as the kissing scene.

"That … is patently ridiculous," Tony said, throwing popcorn at the screen.

"Oh, and you've got better lines?" Jan teased. "I thought you just said 'I'm Tony Stark' and that was it."

"Hey. Let's get something straight," Tony said. "I don't  _need_ lines, and I can't remember the last time I had to introduce myself." he gestured to the movie again. "I'm talking about the kiss. It's like they're chewing each others faces off. Ridiculous."

Jan grinned at him. "Of  _course_ you're critiquing the kiss. How would  _you_ seduce the Nazi who slept with your father, huh?" she teased.

He made a disgusted noise and tossed some popcorn at her. "First of all  _no_ ," he said. "And second of all … not by attempting CPR on a breathing person."

Jan giggled at that. "Tony Stark, are you the  _slow and gentle_ kind of guy?"

"Ah, no. Pretty sure that's what my trouble was," he teased - though it was clear it wasn't entirely a tease.

Jan shook her head, smiled, and leaned over to kiss his temple. "I think that's sweet."

"You think everything's sweet," he said before he gave her a sideways glance.

"I  _like_ sweet," she defended and stretched up to kiss his cheek again. Of course, that was one step too far, and on a whim, Tony turned his head at the last second and stole a little kiss that definitely went on more than a peck on the cheek.

"Still like sweet?" Tony asked, though he was honestly holding his breath - sure he'd pushed a little too far.

Jan looked like she could have been knocked over with a feather before she grinned a nodded. "Yep. Definitely."

He tipped his head at her, though they were still only a few inches apart. He was hoping he wasn't reading her wrong because that would be disastrous on oh, so many levels. "Better go again just to be sure."

"Oh, yes. Proper experimental practice," Jan giggled, though this time, she was the one to steal the kiss first - and when neither one of them was interested in  _stopping_ , it ended up being far more involved than either of them expected. Not that either was complaining.


	55. Fractured (Almost)Family

Tony had woken up early - he usually did, but that particular morning had him … a little anxious. He was very sure that he'd made a mistake trying to steal a few kisses - but then again … it's not like it was  _bad_. Just … seemed a little fast considering how he'd been feeling lately. And … he really  _really_ didn't want to screw up anything with Jan. At all.

He wasn't trusting his track record at the moment either. So, as soon as he'd woken up, he'd headed to the kitchen to get some coffee and start to pace. He didn't' want to take off - and he didn't want to  _hide_  in the lab, but … he was always pretty bad at this side of things. He found himself wondering if it was an alcohol thing - but no, that didn't line up since she'd been positively strict about no booze on movie night.

"Wonder if it'd be a problem if I Irished up the coffee," he muttered to himself, tapping out an anxious rhythm with his fingers on the mug.

Of course, Jan was much slower to wake up than he was, and she made her way to the kitchen from the couch still in her slippers and pajamas, yawning and stretching and smiling when she came in. "Morning," she said, headed for the fridge to stick her head in it and see what appealed to her for breakfast.

"Hey, not a lot in there right now," Tony said when she seemed to be in there for a while - to him anyhow. "I haven't really … had it restocked. No requests made anyhow."

"Well, you need at  _least_ some cream cheese and bagels because that's my jam."

"We can send Happy if that's what you want," Tony offered. "Just tell him which shop. Don't want to pester Jarvis on his day off."

"Oooh, yeah. Jarvis needs a day off," Jan agreed fervently before she grabbed herself a coffee mug. "That's alright. We'll have Happy pick up some things so you aren't running on coffee and… whatever magic thing you run on."

"I'm fine with coffee and whatever," Tony replied with a little smirk, lifting his mug. "Works fine. Really."

"Mmm, my size may fool you, Tony, but I eat  _food_. It's a thing most people do," Jan teased.

"Yeah, not - what I meant, but ... " he turned to look around them. "I'll just text him. What all do you want?"

"Bagels… cream cheese… sandwich fixings…" Jan listed off.

"Sounds reasonable," Tony said, his focus purely on his phone as he sent off the text.

Jan let out a breath and then scooted over and leaned her chin on Tony's shoulder. "Okay, did I freak you out? Because you can tell me if I did. You're acting like not-Tony again."

"No, I just … don't want to … screw this up," Tony replied, doing his best to go for an expression that showed nothing - though of course, she knew him a little too well for that to actually  _work_.

"You know I kissed  _you_ , right?" she said, one eyebrow raised. "If anything,  _I'm_ the pushy one here, Tony. Let's get that straight."

"And you know I'm a  _disaster_. Romantically speaking."

"So am I," Jan pointed out. "I mean, I'm not exactly the poster child for healthy relationships. Case in point - I am  _pretty_ sure I may have  _possibly_ … met a few foreign guys on the cruise after the divorce and  _possibly_ some of them were… well. Not exactly Avengers friendly?"

Tony gave her an expression of clearly put upon shock. "Miss Van Dyne … I think I want names after all the flack I've been catching for  _masked assassins._ "

"Okay, but in my defense? I definitely didn't  _know_ they were spy types until, like, I was fighting bad guys?"

Tony pointed at himself. "Same. That defense doesn't work for me. Ever."

"Okay, but, it was  _one_ cruise and Bob was abnormally sweet for Hydra…"

" _Bob_?" Tony said, eyebrows high. "You had a fling with a guy that honestly went by  _Bob_?"

"I was  _on a cruise_ and  _depressed_ , Tony!"

"Obviously if you went for a  _Bob_."

"This was  _one_ time and - you can't talk! You  _kept dating_ the spy types after you found out!"

"Well clearly I don't think when it comes to pretty women," he said with a little smirk.

"It's a weakness with you," Jan agreed. "It's alright. It's kind of cute when it's directed  _my_ way."

"Oh, sure. You say that  _now_ ," Tony countered with a slowly growing smile.

"I do, in fact, yes, I do say that now," Jan laughed, leaning over to kiss his cheek. "And I am right. And beautiful. So stop thinking."

"I just don't want  _anyone_ to be under the impression that I'd ever … well. Rebound is an ugly word."

"Mmm, you don't  _rebound_ ," Jan said, her head tipped to the side. "You use yourself up on girls you don't care about. And if that's what  _this_ is, then drop me off in New York, please."

"No," Tony said, shaking his head. "Not what's happening here. I wouldn't do that to you."

"Okay, so... " Jan bit her lip. "Tony, I'm not going to push you if you're still hung up. I promise."

"I'm trying not to be," Tony said. "Don't know how successful I am with it though."

"Well…" Jan held her breath. "Would it help if I tell you there are still days, even after everything that happened, that I miss Hank?" she said quietly. "Because I don't think it goes away. Not when you meant it."

"That's probably the most depressing thing I've heard in a long time," Tony replied. "And it makes me think harder about the Irish wanting to go in the coffee."

"Well, you're the one saying you don't think you're doing well not being hung up!" Jan said. "I'm just pointing out that it's  _normal_."

"And another notch in the 'oh crap, that's new' category," Tony teased.

"I know. What must it be like to stoop to normal?" Jan laughed, nudging her shoulder to his. "Come on, Tony. I  _saw_ your heart get ripped out. I'm not asking you to jump in bed with me the next day. I'm not  _evil_."

"Well you could be. Little bit evil," Tony said, straight faced before he tipped his chin to his chest as he looked into the coffee cup. "I'll bet you were evil with  _Bob_."

"Oh my gosh. I regret telling you that now."

"Did you arrest him? Should I be prepared? Do you have your own little Hydra sect that both worships and wants to capture you?" Tony teased, leaning toward her with a little smile that grew a little as she turned colors and finally hit him.

"You are  _soooo_ not funny," Jan said, still bright red. "And it's not a  _sect_. It's, like, five people tops!"

Tony was smiling at her by that time, waiting for her to quit digging the hole - but letting his expression show he absolutely wasn't going to ever forget it. "Just five, huh? That you know of. Now."

"Oh, like you can talk!" Jan said. "Even  _Nat_ wanted to sleep with you before she killed you!"

"For the record, I wouldn't be surprised if that was  _part_ of the mission," Tony said. "If we're being honest."

"That… is actually a good point but not something I am  _ever_ going to ask her," Jan said, making a face. "Nope. Never."

"Yeah, probably smarter that way," Tony agreed before he offered her his hand. "I'm going to try to  _not_ be crazy on you, but I also can't make any promises yet. Hard to just get over it when I can't wrap my head around it all the way."

Jan smiled and then took his hand - and pulled him into a kiss with it. "You're doing just fine."

* * *

K had managed to go to sleep once she and Logan had crossed the border. She didn't know where he was taking her, but it seemed counterintuitive for him to take her to Canada if he was going to turn her over to SHIELD. At any rate, she was simply worn out and didn't really want to think about any of it any more by then and frankly, she was worn out. She'd shifted from her sitting up position to curled up on her side, her arms around her middle, but for as little as she was, it wasn't surprising at all when she simply  _fit_ more or less in her seat.

Of course, Logan was keeping half an eye on her - and had been sure to drape his jacket over her once she was on her side. That little action earned him a nervous girl for just a moment as her eyes opened sleepily - just long enough to take stock of where she was and who she was with before she gratefully took his folded up suit and added it to her dress to use as a pillow, snuggling in again almost as soon as she'd curled up. "You can take the backseat if you want," Logan told her. "I don't mind."

But K shook her head and curled in. "Mmm-mm," she replied shaking her head before answering him in a smoky tone. "Don't like to wake up in the back of a car."

"Got it," Logan said before he readjusted the jacket over her. "I've got your back anyhow."

Though K thanked him for that, and Logan was sure to let her sleep - careful to keep an eye on her when they stopped to fuel up. He really wasn't in the mood to go looking for her if she decided to take off - but his concerns were unfounded.

Every time they made a pitstop, she'd react the same: A quick intake of breath, sitting partially upright, and then slowly relaxing back to where she'd been when she saw where she was and who she was with. They'd stopped for the third time to fill up - and dawn was starting to warm up the very edge of the sky when Logan finally pulled into where he'd been going.

K frowned on seeing the new setting - which … really didn't look like anything but woods at the end of a two-track road. Logan turned off the car and picked up a bag into which he'd already shoved the clothes Maverick had given them and a small amount of supplied picked up along the way. "You up to a hike?" he asked, and K couldn't help but nod her head - not prepared for this angle from him.

"Yeah, I could go for a hike," she said, slipping on a pair of slightly too big sneakers to follow him into the woods.

He didn't say a word - simply leading her deeper and deeper into the trees. The sun hadn't yet broken over the horizon line, but the warm colors were already lighting up the world, and the skies were clear, which allowed the first of dawn's orangey rays to wash over their path as they headed through the trees silently. She was quiet enough that Logan found himself pausing to listen for her from time to time. The few times he stopped and glanced over his shoulder at her, she paused and did the same, wondering if he'd heard something she missed - which had him smiling to himself a little wider.

If he wasn't careful, he'd get caught watching her in that amber light … but he wasn't ready to open that can of worms, so instead, he kept his nose forward, trying hard to ignore the wind at their backs as it carried her warm scent up to him - which was blending overly well with the leather coat she had on and the smell of the pine trees around them. He was almost glad that he'd trekked that path not even a few days before. Following his own scent helped keep his head clear when he could have so easily gotten lost in hers.

K didn't say a word all the way out to the cabin - and when they got there, she simply stood back while Logan set the bags down and then shoved his hands in his front pockets. "It's not much, but …"

"No," K said, looking up and around at the cabin. "It's just what I was hoping for."

Logan smirked and gestured to a door nearby. "Bed's in there. I'll sleep out here."

K frowned and watched him for a moment. "You mean for now."

"No, I mean I'll sleep out here," Logan said. "I'm not after anything. Just tryin' to watch your back."

She thought it over for a moment and finally nodded lightly. "Then thank you," she repeated before she headed over to the bedroom and took stock of the place. To her surprise, it wasn't dusty - and if she was honest, his scent was fairly heavy in the place as a whole, but the bedroom in particular. Not that it was shock. "Did you just come back from here?" she called out as she took a seat on the bed.

"Yep," Logan replied, which again, didn't surprise her one bit. Especially since once she got settled under the covers, the scents of cigar smoke, whiskey, pine trees and motor oil mixed with his own musk filled her nose. It was inescapable - and relaxing.

 _I must have a thing for motor oil,_  K thought to herself, unable  _not_ to compare Logan's scent to Tony's as she pulled the covers up to her shoulders and drifted off almost immediately.

In the next room over, however, Logan was simply standing watch. He waited until he was sure she was asleep before he took off his shoes and silently slipped out of the cabin. He left his shirt behind as well and headed out into the woods to hunt. It was, after all, what he was doing before this all came up, and he wasn't going to let her wake up in need of a decent meal.

He ran the woods until he found a little covey of partridge, then spent the next ten minutes or so stalking to snag a pair of them. Once he had them in hand, he headed back for the cabin, cleaning them along the way, and by the time K had woken up- it was to the scent of fresh roasted birds over the fire.

When she stepped out of the bedroom with Logan's flannel wrapped around herself, he looked up with a little smirk, though he didn't say a word - instead simply gesturing to their dinner before he pulled a pair of long neck bottles out. It was a blessed relief - the quiet and the fact that there was no reason to talk needlessly. And K sure as hell didn't have any plans to wreck the quiet.

The two of them sat in relative silence - save the ambient sounds of the forest around them - simply enjoying the quiet for a good, long while. But it was just a matter of time before one of them broke the silence. It took a few days, and K was starting to wonder how long it could go on. The truth was that this … was  _such_ a different experience than being around  _any_ of the other hero-types that she was starting to have fun with it.

But finally …

"So, what'd he do?" Logan asked. When K just looked over at him expectantly, he shook his head. "I said you couldn't lie to me about it and that I had questions. So come on, tell me what the egghead did to shoot himself in the foot."

"He didn't really do anything wrong," K said.

"Yeah, I heard the line."

"It's not a line," she replied, meeting his gaze.

"Something triggered it."

K let out a breath and rolled her shoulders as she leaned back. It was true enough that he could have gotten the story from Jean or Jan or … anyone later, but once again, Logan had been uncommonly kind to her, and she didn't want to seem ungrateful for his help - or his calming presence. "He had a projected timeline."

"For what?" Logan asked, his nose scrunched up as he leaned back and opened up a new longneck.

K bit her lip and picked up her beer. "Marriage. Kids. Well,  _more_ kids of the not-adopted variety."

Logan frowned and watched her for a long moment before he let out a hollow laugh and tipped his beer back.

"What is so damn funny?"

"Just the fact that you're afraid of someone takin' care of you and makin' a family." He shook his head and swore in Japanese under his breath. "Damn near every available woman in the world would give her eye teeth for a  _shot_ at Stark givin' em a chance ... and you took one look at that and ran. Amazing."

"So you think I screwed up too."

But Logan shook his head slowly as he set his beer bottle down. "No. I think what you did was a lot tougher than you're givin' yourself credit for." He leaned toward her, his expression perfectly open. "I don't think I could've done it, given the same situation." He paused and gave her an honest smile. "Hell. I know I couldn't have done it. Been there, done that. It was a total trainwreck."

"Oh come on," she shot back low. "Your whole  _thing_ is this … selflessness."

"Not when it comes to the women I've loved," Logan said. "You cared for him a lot more than he's used to, loved him even, but you knew it wasn't gonna work. Instead of draggin' it out, you did the harder thing." When K looked like she didn't quite believe him though, Logan went on. "And you sure as hell didn't shoot yourself in the foot doing the right thing." K looked up at him for a moment with a little frown. "If it was to save your sanity and keep you both from being miserable long term, it was the right thing," Logan said quieter before he got to his feet and started gathering up their dishes and empty bottles. "And it's a helluva lot more than most would do. Anyone else I can think of woulda just rode it out to the bitter sad end."

She turned to watch him for a moment, happy to return to their silence. "Thank you, Logan. Again." But Logan didn't reply with more than a gruff sound, and K smirked to herself at how incredibly reasonable he was being for her.

* * *

It had been a  _whole week_ since the Summers wedding and no one had seen or heard a thing from K - or Logan. Not that it was unusual for him, but a few of the younger mansion residents had been looking for her, anyhow. It wasn't blatantly obvious unless someone was specifically looking for it, but Katie had lost a lot of her fire and hadn't yet gone to Charles' office to interrogate anyone who came in to see him like she liked to do. Instead, she was sticking to the front side of the house - and spent more and more time staring out the windows watching the driveway for any sign of someone coming in.

That on its own likely would have been enough for Kurt to know something was off, but when he caught Clint watching Katie - watching the windows - it was pretty obvious that there were some real concerns. Especially from the expression on Clint's face.

Of course, as soon as Clint noticed Kurt was  _there_ , the expression went away, and he smiled up at Kurt where he was on the ceiling. "You gotta get a new hiding place, Kurt. The rest of us are catching on."

" _Lacherlich_ ," Kurt said as low as he could.

"Who are you spying on this time? Me and Katie aren't doing anything. Just having a slow morning," Clint said, waving him down.

"I wanted to see if she'd want to play," Kurt said as he came down the wall. "But she looks … busy."

Clint picked the little guy up and ruffled his hair. "Go ahead and ask her anyway. I bet she'd like to play. Or at least have some fruit snacks with you. Can't run on empty, right?"

Kurt watched Katie for a moment and then slowly made his way over to her. " _Guten morgen_ ," he said quietly. "How are you doing today?" he didn't try to bait her, not when he knew she looked upset anyhow.

Katie glanced up at Kurt over the top of her teddy bear and then held the bear closer. "I'm okay," she said. "I'm just waitin'."

"Can I wait with you?" Kurt asked. "Peter is a little down too."

"Yeah, cuz his dad went to set up his house," Katie said, nodding quietly. "Lots of people're leaving."

"They should all be coming back, too," Kurt said. "I just don't know when. No one told me that part."

"Me neither," Katie admitted, hugging her bear tighter.

"Usually, Logan tells me what's happening even if the other grown ups won't, but he's gone too."

"My Clint says the grown-ups are tryna help my mom and Tony," Katie said quietly. "She got real sad."

"I saw that," Kurt said in a similarly quiet and down tone. "I didn't think she did that."

Katie let out a little breath. "When my mom was stayin' with my dad, she used to get scared," she said quietly. "She doesn't no more, but that's what I remember."

"That sounds very scary then," Kurt said.

Katie nodded. "I think my dad scared her," she said. "And that's why she left."

"He must have been very very scary," Kurt said. "My dad … he was very scary too."

Katie nodded. "He hurt you," she said, reaching over very carefully to grab his arm. "You still hurtin'?"

"Only when my friends are hurting," Kurt said with a little smile.

Katie smiled at that and gave him a little hug. "You're really nice to me, Kurt."

"You're really nice to everyone," Kurt said. "Would you like me to bring the coloring books so you don't have to leave your spot?"

Katie nodded. "Uh-huh. I'll even let you color the pirate one," she said with a tiny smile.

Kurt gave her a winning smile. "I'll be right back. Is there anything else?"

Katie thought about it for a long time and then giggled. "You should ask my Clint if he knows where the candy is. Because I bet we can have some!"

"I don't need to ask Clint that," Kurt said with a troublemaking smile. "I'll be right back." With that, he zipped off, leaving Katie with Clint.

* * *

It had only been another day or two beyond that when Tony showed up at Westchester again. He looked a little more tired than they were used to seeing him, but he was doing his best to keep an up attitude as he met up with not only a decent part of his team, but the kids that were screwing around nearby as well.

He looked to his team - as they chatted and mostly pretended not to watch  _him_  - and then very suddenly clapped his hands to get the kids' attention. "Come on, Petey, we gotta get you settled in your new place. Gonna be a busy week."

Peter looked up from playing with Paige and Kitty and then grinned. "Tony!" He rushed over to hug him, since that seemed to be allowed now that the odd spell had broken.

"How you doin' buddy?" Tony said with a crooked sort of smile as he hugged him back.

"I'm doing okay," Peter said. "I got to play with Dr. Blue and stuff."

"How about more kids your own age - and with a little more similar interests?" Tony asked.

"Oh, well, me an' the others have been playing and stuff too, but I like when Dr. Blue lets me see how to X-Ray machine works. He makes sure it's off, though. Don't worry!"

"Then do I have good news for you," Tony said, reining his smile back to his usual more serious expression that he liked to wear when giving good news. "I've got a little lab at the house set up - just for you to tinker with and we've got a few interviews with the top science schools in the city. For you to go to. If you'd like."

"Really?" Peter's eyes were as wide as they could get. "Really really?"

"Really really," Tony said, nodding lightly. "And you can come back here on the weekends if you want to keep playing."

"Yes please!" Peter said, hugging Tony all over again. "I like everyone here!"

Tony couldn't help but laugh a little himself at seeing Peter's enthusiasm. "Alright then let's get moving. You need to figure out what your lab and your room are missing." He smirked. "And Jarvis can't wait to start spoiling you."

Peter grinned even wider at that. "I already  _know_ what they're missing! They're missing  _me_!"

"Let's hope that's all they're missing," Tony said, smirking still as he gave Peter a minute to make the rounds with his friends.

When Peter finally got back to Tony, though, he paused and looked thoughtful. "Is Katie coming?" he asked in a quiet whisper. "Cause… her mom's not here and…"

Tony frowned at that and shook his head. "I didn't know about that," he said before he looked up to try and spot her. "She can come if she wants. At least for now."

"I dunno. She'd haveta leave the front room and she  _always_ stays there," Peter said seriously.

Tony frowned at that and then simply started for the front room where Katie was still camped out. "Hey kiddo, how's it going?"

Katie looked up and then broke into a smile and rushed over to hug Tony's leg. "I missed you," she said.

"I missed you too," Tony said, still frowning over the whole situation - and more than a little alarmed. "What are you doing hiding in here?"

"I'm not hiding," she said. "I'm just waiting for Mom." She gestured toward the front door.

"Do you know where she went?" Tony asked.

Katie bit her lip and shook her head. "No," she admitted. "But… but she's comin' back. I  _know_ she is!"

Tony looked more than a little deflated at that and glanced up without really thinking about it. "You know, if you want to come and help Peter get settled into his new room, you could wait with us. I know Hawkeye would call for you when she gets back."

Katie bit her lip. "I dunno," she said slowly. "I … I dunno."

Tony crouched down so he'd be closer to her eye level. "I'll bring you right back. Promise."

Katie held his gaze and then nodded, positively attaching to Tony in a tight hug. "I love you, Tony," she said - with a very obvious sniffle.

"Love you too, Katie," he said, snuggling her tight. "Don't worry. She'll be back even if I have to go looking for her, okay?"

"Okay," Katie said. "But we gotta bring my bear, okay?"

"Anything you want, kiddo." Tony gave her a little smile and tipped her chin up. "Why don't you grab your PJ's. I'll wait."

"Okay." Katie gave him a kiss on the cheek and grabbed her bear before she headed upstairs - not even noticing Clint in the doorway watching the whole thing.

As Tony stood up, he turned toward Clint. "Don't try to stop me."

Clint held up both hands. "I'm not that stupid."

Tony nodded once and straightened out his tie. "Didn't think so." He took a few steps toward Clint. "So what's the story then?"

"She left after the wedding," Clint said. "Tasha says Logan went after her to make sure she didn't do anything  _stupid_ , but in the meantime…" He gestured the way Katie had disappeared.

"Stupid like what?" Tony asked, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes. "Specifically."

"Like leaving Katie  _permanently_ ," Clint admitted. "Beyond that, I can't make promises on where she's at."

Tony looked irritated as he glanced down the hall where Katie had left. "If she's gone for much longer, I'm going after her."

"Might not be a bad idea," Clint said. "Not like Logan is a master negotiator."

"I don't know that anyone'd have any luck with her if she set her mind to it," Tony admitted.

"Must be why you liked her."

Tony gave him a half hearted glare. "Anyhow. If she backs out, I've got this one."

Clint held both hands out in a gesture of peace. "No one would fight you on it, Tony. Not the way she is around you."

Tony tipped his chin up a little bit and clearly had nothing to say in response to that, so instead, he simply nodded and waited for the kids to get back.


	56. Reunions

Somewhere along the way, Logan and K had gotten into a pattern, and it took him a little while to snap out of it and realize that they  _needed_ to go back. He didn't mind sleeping on the floor if it meant that K was comfortable, and he didn't tell her that he watched her get up and cross the little cabin to make the coffee every morning. She probably knew it, but he wasn't going to draw attention to it, though he knew that she was aware by the time she brought him a cup of coffee. Mostly, they did everything without talking - which was something new for Logan, too, but it was massively appreciated. In fact, it was probably too easy for them to fall into that little rhythm, and when he  _did_ realize how long it had been, he was ready to push to go back.

"As much as I hate to say it-"

"Or anything else," K cut in, which had Logan stopping to stare at her for a minute.

"Hey. I was followin' your cues."

"And I was following yours," K replied. "I thought quiet was good."

"Yeah, it was, but now we gotta get back."

When K let out a little sigh, he frowned her way. "You got a little gil there that thinks the world of you waitin' for you. I said you could get away and that I'd help you, but my  _one condition_ was that you go back to her. If you don't want her, then you at least need to let her know so she can pick someone else."

"I didn't say I didn't want her," K said before she met and held his gaze. "I just … would prefer to take her to somewhere like this and stay gone."

"You know that wouldn't be what's best for her," Logan said, taking a seat next to her on the bed, where she'd been curled up.

"Yeah. I know. Which is why I won't fight you on it. We can go back I just … don't know what happens next."

"With what? Stark? I thought you had that figured out."

"It's over," K said. "That's the only thing I have figured out. The rest of it … what to do with Katie, or where  _I'm_ supposed to go-"

"You have a place in Westchester if you want it."

"I don't want to pick anywhere because it feels like there's not another option," K said. "That's what I've been doing. Floating along. I went with Erik because he helped me - until that shifted. And I went with your friends even after I wanted to leave - because of Katie, but because of Tony too. I'd  _thought_ that our thing had ended after Rhodey laid it out. I wasn't … expecting him to be  _waiting for me_."

Logan let his shoulders relax as he watched her. "You really can't think that he'd give up just because Rhodey said so."

"It was the smart way of thinking -"

"And you know men don't think  _smart_ when they got a beautiful woman on their mind."

"Yeah, i've heard," K said before she drew in a deep, slow breath. "Okay. I guess we can figure it out when we get there. If she isn't furious with me."

"She won't be," Logan promised. "I'm tellin' you- she's waitin' for you."

"That'd be one," K breathed out, though when she got to her feet, Logan grabbed a hold of her arm.

"Only because she's not  _here_."

K froze and stared at him for a long moment trying to unravel that one. "And if I was gone … without the supervision? "

"She wouldn't be alone in waitin'."

K did a little double take at that, though it was hard, after all of the quiet, peaceful time they'd spent for her to deny that there wasn't that same  _something_ that she'd seen from him when they were in Japan. "I can drive too," she offered finally, which had Logan smirking.

"I'll take first leg," he said. "Seein' as you don't know where we are."

"I really don't." she agreed. "And for some reason, I'm still tired, Even with all the sleep."

"Yeah, you were more'n a  _little_ hung up on Stark if you needed that much to bounce back," Logan said.

"You're dying to know details, aren't you?"

"Not  _too_ many details," Logan said - perfectly straight faced.

She couldn't stop the smile at that. "Not too many," she agreed. They packed up quickly, and the two of them hiked out in relative silence, though the hike out went slower than the one in. The car was still there - not any worse for wear, but Logan kept the silence until they were well on their way - and when he started to ask, K simply answered all of his questions on the way back without any attempt to avoid anything - well beyond questions about Tony or how things went so far south with Magneto.

* * *

Natasha was the one to call Tony and let him know that Logan was on his way back - and he had only called her to make sure that Katie was alright, really.

When Tony told Katie about it, she just  _had_ to go to Westchester. Right that very second. And Tony wasn't about to argue with her about it. He had no idea where in the hell it was that K had gone to, so he had no frame of reference on how long it would take for them to get back.

It had been a few weeks since the wedding, and in that time away from K, Katie had been getting more than a little restless when it looked like Jean and Scott might come back before her Mom did. And there wasn't even any hero-ing going on. She was just …  _gone_  doing who knows what! Whatever her mom was doing, she knew it was very different from when she'd been gone before. And the little girl was nearly sick over it.

Kurt had been very sweet, and he was often near her trying to cheer her up when Tony had brought her and Peter back to play. So he happened to be lightly dozing nearby when Logan and K finally returned to the house.

They looked almost like they'd met up in the driveway, and K was clearly tired still as she stepped into the house to catch Katie as she ran over to say hello. "Hey, cutie," K said in a smoky voice. "Sorry I was gone so long. I think … if you want, we can do a campfire tomorrow night."

Katie nodded, burying her face in K's side. "Yes please."

"You got it," she agreed, then shifted so she could give Katie a better, tighter bear hug. "I'm just going to go upstairs and take a long shower - then go to bed. You can come snuggle if you're not too busy, okay?"

"Okay," Katie said, then looked over at Logan. "You been snuggling too?"

"Nope," Logan said, shaking his head lightly. "Just keepin' an eye open, that's all."

"Okay." Katie held her teddy bear a little tighter as she watched K head up to shower, with Tony following after her - so they could have a word away from Katie's little ears.

Of course K didn't miss that Tony was there, and she nearly held her breath when she saw the thunderous expression on his face. "Hey! What gives? You think you can just  _ditch her?_ She's been staying at my place while you've been off doing God only knows what," Tony said. "Where the hell were you?"

K stopped and turned his way. With him standing that close, it was easy enough to pick up the  _other_ scents clinging to him, so for a moment, she wasn't entirely sure what it was he was so mad about. His entire body language read as if he took it as a personal insult, and seeing as he was already moving on … K decided to hold back the snappy response and see where his head was. "I'm sure she enjoyed spending time with you. She really loves you."

"I don't think she paid any attention to me or Peter or Jan," Tony said. "She was waiting for  _you_  the whole time," he gestured with one hand. "But that's not the point. You can't treat  _your kid_ the way you treated me just because you're in the air. You don't disappear on the people you say you love. She kept staring at the phone waiting to hear from you." He gave K a glare. "So I'm going to ask you straight out - are you turning right back around again?"

"No."

"Because if you are, I'm taking Katie," Tony continued. "That kid was  _terrified_. Even I could see that."

K had stopped entirely and was looking more small as Tony tried to throttle back the anger that was clear  _wasn't_ just from Katie. She held his gaze for a long moment, though she was a little taken back by his building fury. Which didn't help the fact that he was right. And that had her deflating a little more. "Then I guess maybe … we should give her the chance to reevaluate who she wants to take care of her."

Tony shook his head, looking somehow more upset. "She was scared of  _losing you_. We're not going to throw her in the air and see where she lands. That's ten times worse."

"That's not what I'm saying, Tony," K said as she dropped his gaze and stared at her hands. "I'm saying if she feels safer with you, then she should  _be_ with you. I know you wouldn't pass it up if she said that's what she wanted."

"And I'm saying I didn't  _exist_ half the time when she was waiting for you. Just - give the kid a little warning next time. Or take her with. Because if I have to watch that again, I swear to you, K…"

"Tony, it won't happen again," K replied evenly as she peeked up at him. "On my life."

Maybe it was her expression - or the fact that he could  _see_ how much she was upset still, but a lot of his anger dissipated fast and he nodded once at that. "Alright. Good." Tony let his shoulders drop a bit and then let out a breath. "Just … you had to know what you left behind."

"You've got a heart of gold, you know that?"

Tony smiled lightly. "Yeah. Well. I keep hearing that rumor."

"Not a rumor," she said, shaking her head. "Cold, hard, irrefutable fact."

"If you say so, K." Tony;s expression warmed up the closer he got to her.

"When have I ever lied to you?" K asked.

"Never," he admitted. "So… I guess you must be right."

"On this? Yeah. I am."

"It's good to have you back."

"Yeah? That might be overstating it, but … I missed you too," she said. "Thank you - for worrying yourself over her."

"Can't stop it, might as well run with it," Tony said with a shrug.

"And you? Are you okay?" she asked, leaning against the wall.

"Yeah. I got Petey all set up with his own lab and everything," Tony said with a smile.

"Be careful, Mr. Stark, that kid will outstrip you given the right conditions."

"I hope so. What's the point of being a futurist if I can't expect a better future?"

She couldn't help but smile at that. "You, handsome, are pure.  _Trouble_. Go hug your kid."

"Same to you," Tony said with a smile before he did, in fact, head back out.

In the meantime, Logan had taken over keeping Katie company as he hung up his jacket and keys. But when he turned back around to see her standing there alone and staring after where Tony and K had left, he had to check on her. He crossed the room to where she was and cleared his throat. "You okay, half-pint?" Logan asked, crouching down to her level.

Katie hid her face in her bear for a moment and then shook her head. "I was real scared."

"I'll bet you were," he said softly. "But your Mom needed a minute to clear her head a little. Bein' as sad as she was, she could have had trouble alone. And she didn't want you to see her upset like that. She was always gonna come back for you."

Katie held her teddy tighter. "My mom didn't," she whispered very softly.

For an instant, Logan paused, and glanced over to where he saw Tony - on his way out, though at least Tony had the sense to step back around the corner for the time being when he heard the tone of the conversation. Logan took a deep breath and tipped his head to the side as he let his voice go into a more soothing timbre. "Whatcha mean, Katie?"

She shuffled her feet. "My… my mom left," she said quietly. "I don't wanna lose this one."

"You won't," Logan told her simply, though she didn't look like she believed it yet. "Can I ask you a question?"

Katie nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Did you know the whole time that K wasn't your mom?"

Katie bit her lip and shook her head. "I forgot what she looked like," she whispered, clutching her bear tightly.

Logan reached out to gently rest his hand on her arm. "What made you remember, darlin'?"

Katie peeked up at him for a long moment and then very carefully showed Logan a small Velcro-d spot in her teddy bear - and pulled out a worn, frayed photograph that clearly showed a woman that looked a lot more like Katie, holding a toddler that had to be Katie herself.

Logan gently pulled her a little closer to put his arm around her as they looked at the photograph. "You know, sweetheart, we should really put this in a frame to keep it from getting ruined."

"But-"

"K won't get mad," he promised.

"I really thought she was my mom," Katie said, starting to sniffle.

"She knew she wasn't," Logan told her. "And she loves you anyhow."

"What if she - what if she goes away?"

"She'll come back," Logan said with a little smile. "She's a lot like me, did you know that?" When Katie shook her head with a frown, Logan continued. "We both heal up from pretty much everything, so we can always come back."

Katie stared up at Logan and scrubbed a hand over her face. "Okay."

"You know those papers that the other kids were all excited about a while back?" Logan said, trying to give Katie something else to hang onto. "K has papers like that for you, too. She just didn't make a big deal about it because you were already callin' her mom."

Katie's eyes were wide. "So… so I still got my mom?"

"You still got your mom," Logan confirmed.

Katie let out a little noise and then wrapped her arms around his neck. "I was really scared," she hiccuped.

Logan wrapped her up tight and held onto her for a long moment. "She wouldn't leave you hangin' kiddo. And if you want your campfire just to be the two of you, it can be."

Katie stayed hidden in Logan's hug for a long time before she finally looked up at Logan again. "You  _sure_ she won't be mad?" she asked.

"Super sure," Logan said, nodding.

"Will you tell her with me?"

"If you want me to, I will," Logan promised. "But if that's the only picture you have - you should take care of it and protect it." He picked her up and started to carry her upstairs.

Katie snuggled right in, clutching her teddy bear to her. "You took care of my mom, huh? Cuz she was sad?"

"She needed a safe place to be quiet and mostly alone, and I happen to have a safe place that no one was gonna bug her," Logan said. "But she had some time and I think she's feelin' a lot better now."

"That's good 'cause she was really sad," Katie said. "Because she liked Tony."

"She did," Logan agreed. "And grownups can be weird sometimes."

"They can be really weird," Katie giggled. "But that's okay. Tony let me play at his house and he showed me and Peter how to make  _smoke bombs_."

Logan chuckled at that. "Let me guess - were they purple?"

"They sure were!"

Logan smiled at her for that and carried her past Tony, who wasn't even trying to hide the smirk as Logan passed him - though he stayed out of Katie's sight line. The two of them went up the stairs and right into K's room to wait for her to come out - all freshly cleaned up, though she looked a little more weary after her little encounter with Tony. "Hey, sweetheart," K said when she saw her. "Have you been waiting forever?"

Katie shook her head, hanging onto her bear really tight. "Um… me and Logan gotta show you somethin'."

K smiled sedately and patted her bed. "Well come on. Show me."

Katie glanced up at Logan before she squirmed down and climbed up next to K. "I… I got a picture," she said quietly. "I put it in my bear, see?" She showed K the hidden little opening.

K watched carefully as Katie showed her the hidden spot in her bear, smiling a little more at her for that. "Such a clever little girl."

"I hid it cuz my dad didn't want to see Mom's pictures," Katie explained quietly. "But I did."

K made a little tutting sound at that and shook her head. "Do you have a picture of her in the bear?"

Katie nodded. "I didn't really… when I got you, I forgot to look a lot until we were cleaning 'im…"

"Can I see her?"

Katie nodded quietly and then carefully unfolded the picture so K could see.

K very gently pulled Katie over into her lap and wrapped her up from behind, resting her chin on Katie's shoulder as they looked at the picture together. "She's  _very_ pretty, Katie."

"She's not you," Katie said.

"No, she's not," K agreed. "But that makes me smile that you thought I was that pretty, too."

"You  _are_ really pretty," Katie said, then glanced up at K. "I - I really thought you were my mom. Really, really."

"I know," K replied. "I'm sorry I didn't correct you. I didn't want to upset you, though."

Katie bit her lip. "I … I really want you to be my mom," she whispered.

"Really?" K whispered back, shifting so that Katie could see her face. "Are you sure? Because I know that Tony would love to give you a room next to Peter's if you wanted that more."

Katie bit her lip and then shook her head. "I like Tony," she said. "But… I want my mom."

"And you were afraid you lost me, too."

Katie sniffled and then hugged K tighter, sniffling and rubbing her face in K's side. "Uh-huh."

"I'm sorry I left without telling anyone. I was not feeling like myself at all. But … I'm really hard to get rid of," K said, though she had to shake her head. "Did anyone tell you that?"

"Uh-huh," she whispered. "But I was real scared you weren't coming back."

K let out a breath and wrapped her arms around her again for a long bear hug. "Katie, I won't let you be alone anymore. Not unless you want me to."

Katie sniffled quietly as she hung on tight. "I love you lots, Mom."

"I love you too, sweetheart," K replied quietly. "And I think …I think we need to put that picture in a frame that's as pretty as she is and set it up so you can see it whenever you want."

"But what if it gets broke?" Katie asked, her eyes wide. "And I don't go  _nowhere_ without my teddy!"

"Maybe we can get a copy of it," K suggested.

Katie relaxed a little at that. "Okay," she agreed. "That sounds really good."

"You know what?" K said quietly. "I'll just  _bet_ that if you show it to Natasha that she might be able to find more pictures of her."

"You really think so?"

K nodded solemnly at that. "She'd sure try. Especially for a tiny Hawkeye like you."

Katie snuggled back in and then looked up at Logan. "Thanks," she whispered to him.

"Anytime, sweetheart," Logan replied. "If you want, I can send Tasha up. Then you don't have to leave your mom." He was already headed for the door, and winked at the two of them as he passed them.

"Wouldja please?" Katie asked, then snuggled back in with her mom when he left.

* * *

It wasn't any time at all before Natasha knocked on the door and stepped in with an inquisitive expression on her face. "Did you need something, little one?" she asked, her head tipped as she watched the way Katie was latched onto K - the teddy bear at the foot of the bed and the photo clasped in her hand.

Katie looked up at K and then nodded. "Be really, really careful," she told Natasha as she waved her over to  _very_ gently place the picture in her hands. "That's my mom."

Natasha took the photo very gingerly but almost startled on hearing it. "She looks just like you,  _malen'kiy,_ " Natasha said.

"See?" K said over Katie's shoulder. "Super- _duper_. Pretty."

Katie giggled at that and hugged K again before she pointed at Natasha. "You gotta be careful with that picture and - and make  _copies_ so I get one for my teddy and one for a picture and one for you, okay?"

While Katie was giving Natasha the run-down, K slipped out from under her to pull out a sheet of paper and very carefully write down the woman's name before she slipped it to Natasha. "Good luck," she said.

* * *

Of course, Natasha had gotten right to work, digging up what she could on Eleanor Bishop - as K had written on the little scrap of paper- but she wasn't emotionally invested. No. That wasn't something she did.

"Something lit a fire under you," Clint observed, leaning over her shoulder.

"It's just something Logan asked me to do. Don't worry about it," Natasha said. "It's no big deal. Really. You can go back to your boomerang arrows or whatever ew lunacy you're working on."

"It must be a big deal, because I've been running dance class," Clint said. "I mean, I've done it enough to do it on the little kid level after how many I've run with you, but at some point…"

Natasha paused enough to look up at him and smirk crookedly. "I'm sorry I missed that."

Clint grinned. "It was pretty great. Especially when Kitty corrected my form."

"She wouldn't have noticed if you'd worn your tutu," she teased.

"Only for special occasions," he teased right back.

"Lucky me," she replied with a raised eyebrow as she went back to work.

He grinned and kissed her cheek. "C'mon, Tasha. You're invested."

She let out a breath at that and finally forcibly removed her fingers from the keyboard. "I'm looking for pictures of a dead woman." She opened the folder to show not only the original picture, but several scans and even a few other angles of her from other sources. "It's Kate's real mother. She had the picture hidden in her teddy bear this whole time."

Clint let out a low whistle. "Well I'll be damned."

"Which means that not only am I working double time to try and find more photos, but K didn't  _lie_ to us about Katie." She gave him a look as she crossed her arms over her chest. "And before you say anything about the blood tests McCoy did, let me remind you that things like that can be altered and the group that had K and Logan was certainly capable of doing that much."

"Sweetheart, I wasn't going to say anything. She'd have figured it out eventually anyway."

"Likely," she agreed. "I just … had more or less made up my mind about her."

Clint kissed her cheek again. "And now?"

"Now it's hard to  _not_ see her in a different light. Even if she did destroy Tony out of nowhere."

"Okay, before I say anything, I'm not  _just_ saying this because Tony and I have always had our differences - but Jan said it wasn't a  _dumping_ , you know?"

Natasha gave him a dry look. "He was wrecked," she said flatly. "And I  _knew_ it was going to happen. I just didn't know how."

Clint nodded. "I know, but consider: Jan." He grinned. "I know you two aren't as close as me and Jan but trust me: there's steam building there."

Natasha waved a hand. "I know. That's not the point. The point was that she did damage. Not that I think they  _ever_ should have been together."

"And now you're helping her adopted daughter find pictures of her dead real mother…"

"Because Logan asked me to," Natasha finished.

"Sure."

"Shut up, Barton."

Clint smirked and kissed her again. "Must mean I'm right."

"You haven't said anything to be right about," Natasha replied evenly.

"Well, how about you take half an hour break, I'll be right, and then you go back to what you're doing."

She gave him a slow smile. "If I'm taking a break for that, it better be more than half an hour."

Clint grinned even wider. " _There's_ my Nat."


	57. Welcome Home Summerses!

News of Katie's mom's picture spread quickly - especially once Katie got the copies of the old one - and the newer ones that Katie hadn't seen before. The little girl was so excited to see new pictures, and to share in her friend's similar excitement about her  _chosen_ parent, that she was rushing around showing off the picture - skipping from one close friend to the next to share the photos.

It was a good time anyhow. Especially since Jean and Scott had come back from their honeymoon, well rested and glad to be back, honestly. As Katie flitted from Kurt and Peter over to Professor Xavier, Jean took a moment to reach out to Logan.  _So. Anything new happening?_

Logan didn't even look her way though.  _Nope. Not a thing._

Jean gave him a look for that, but she didn't get to press him on it when Katie rushed over to her with her picture in her hand to show Jean. "Look! That's my mom!" she said, shoving the picture under Jean's nose.

Jean looked surprised for a moment but she hugged Katie with one arm and readjusted the picture so she could see it better. "Scott, look," Jean said. "Katie has a picture of her mom she wants to show us."  _Mr. Summers …_

Scott smiled and rested his chin on Jean's shoulder.  _Well, that's not K. This is new._

 _No kidding,_ Jean replied, trying hard not to smile at his clear and understated observation.  _What do you make of it - other than again, she didn't lie to us._ "She's very pretty, Katie. Just like you! You have her smile."

Katie giggled. "I'm gonna be just like her when I growed up!"

"Where did you find your pictures, Katie?" Scott asked.

"Miss Nat gaved them to me! Mom asked her to look for pictures and she did because she loves me!" Katie sang out, grinning and almost dancing in place.

 _Why would she ask her to do that?_ Jean projected to Scott.

 _You're the telepath, Jean. I just live here,_ Scott pointed out with a smirk.

Jean kept her smile in place, kissed Katie's cheek, then promptly turned to pinch Scott's side.  _You are being terrible, Mr. Summers._

Scott grinned her way and then stole a kiss.  _Not my fault you're missing the obvious. Just ask Katie what happened. She seems willing to share._ He kissed Jean again and then turned to Katie. "Did your mom ask Natasha for more pictures for something special? Like a birthday or something?"

Katie giggled and shook her head. "No, silly! I got a birthday when it's snowy and it's the new year and there's fireworks!" She hugged her picture close. "I showed Mom my picture from my teddy-  _oh_!" She looked wide-eyed. " _YOU GOTTA SEE MY TEDDY PICTURE!"_ She rushed off without any explanation beyond that - leaving a fairly bemused Scott and Jean behind.

"Nothing happened my eye," Jean muttered to Logan.

"Don't know what you're talkin' about. She's always like this," Logan said. "Katie's been enjoying herself. I'm not poppin' that balloon for her just so you can get a gossip fix."

"When we left, she still thought K was her mom," Jean said.

"Be patient, Jeannie. Katie'll explain it," Logan said in a tone that read exactly how impatient he thought she was being. "That's her favorite part."

Jean shook her head at that - but thankfully for her patience, it didn't take long at all before Katie came rushing back downstairs with a picture in a gorgeous silver frame. She thrust it at Scott this time, dancing in place. "Mom found a pretty frame just for my teddy bear picture!  _Aaaaaand_ she gave me another one that's a copy of it so I can keep her in my teddy and she's not even mad about it!" She bounced a few times, clearly over the moon about the whole thing. "Cause she loves me too! So I got a new mom like my friends, too!"

Jean smiled and crouched down to Katie's level to wrap her in a hug. "Have you had your picture in your teddy this whole time?"

Katie nodded and started to lose some of her steam, though she was still shifting from one foot to the other. "Uh-huh. For when I was sad." She hedged. "I was kinda sad when Mom left with Mr. Logan so I… I peeked."

Jean gave Logan such a  _look_  over the top of Katie's head. "Oh?"

"Yeah, but I stayed with Tony when they was gone 'cause he loves me and then Logan brought my mom home because he loves me too!" Katie reported happy. "And I showed him my bear and he helped me show Mom and Mom says I can still be her Katie and she already gots papers like Kurt gots from the Fesser and-" She took a  _deep_ breath to keep going. "-And Petey gots to go to a smart school and my Clint is gonna show me how to shoot a  _crossbow_  and everyone's happy now, see?"

"See?" Logan said as he turned to walk off, leaving Katie with Jean and Scott. "The world kept spinnin' and no one fell off."

"Clearly," Jean said, a little overwhelmed by the  _massive_ amount of infodumping that Katie had just done.

Katie giggled and then hugged Jean. "I'm glad you're back too!" she said. "Now we gots everyone. 'Cept Tony and Peter and Jan. They just come on  _weekends_. Sometimes Jan comes more, though. For 'Venging."

"That's part of why we're back too," Jean said. "We knew that we'd need to come back to help."

"Uh-huh. So didja get a baby? 'Cause  _Jaaaaaaan_ says you were gone for so long so you could make one."

"We were gone so we could enjoy being married," Scott explained. "Just the two of us."

"Uh-huh. Whatcha gonna call your baby?" Katie said, not about to be deterred. "Jan says you're gonna have a redhead baby just like Jean.  _Jan_ says it's gonna be really cute. She says you need  _twenty_."

"Oh, does she now?" Jean asked. "I think she needs that many  _herself_."

Katie leaned forward, her eyes wide and serious. "I think she wantsta have 'em with Tony," she whispered, then giggled. "She  _loooooooves_ him. Even Pete agrees with me! 'Cause we caught 'em kissing after we snuck out after bedtime!"

"Why were you sneaking out after bedtime?" Scott teased.

"Because we  _could_  and because it's  _fun_!"

"Not because you wanted to kiss Peter?"

" _EWWW!_ " Katie started making dramatic faces. "Blech. Gross! Eww! No! Petey is almost a  _brother_! I heard Tony tellin' Jan he was gonna 'dopt me if my mom didn't come back! I'm not kissin' an  _almost brother!_ " She put her hands on her hips and tossed her hair over her shoulder as she gave him the most withering look for even  _suggesting_ such a travesty.

Scott didn't even try to hide the laugh that bubbled out all on its own, leaving Jean to play interference with Katie. "Is that the  _only_ kissing you caught?" Jean asked, barely even attempting to hide the fact that she was looking at Logan as she said it.

Katie giggled. "Welllll," she said, "I saw Storm kissin' Forge. And - and Billy an' Teddy! And Remy kissing some girl I never see'd before."

"You must be pretty sneaky to have caught Remy kissing someone," Jean said with a smile.

"Me an' Kurt are  _really sneaky,_ " Katie whispered. "He's my bestest friend in the whole wide world!"

"And how's your mom doing?" Jean asked as Katie led her toward the gathering of kids. "I haven't seen her here."

"She's okay. I think she's still a little sad, but she sometimes rides on Mr. Logan's motorcycle with him or she rides the horses and then she's not so sad." Katie smiled up at Jean. "I thought maybe she was sad because of Tony and Jan kissin', but she seemed to get happier when she heard about that, sorta."

 _I'm going to find her,_ Jean told Scott.  _You get to play with the precious little girl. It's probably getting really close to time for K to pick now that the teams are splitting again._

 _You sure you don't want me to talk to her?_ Scott asked.  _And you can spoil Josh…?_

_Oh, well now that you've offered - she's in the barn._

_I walked right into that one, didn't I?_

Jean smiled widely and popped up on her toes to steal a kiss.  _I don't know what you're talking about Mr. Summers._

 _Of course not, Mrs. Summers,_ he replied, then swept her into a longer kiss that had Katie giggling all over again.  _I'll be back before you're finished getting out of the snuggle pile with Paige, Sam, and Josh, I'm sure._

_You never know. There could be something going on with Sam and Kitty by now …_

_They're first-graders, Jean. Slow down and enjoy the tiny ones while they're still small,_ Scott chuckled.  _Trust me on this: you don't want to skip from six to adult._

 _Puppy love is an adorable thing_.

 _You love love, Jean._ Scott smirked and kissed her again before he headed off.  _Tell Sam his dad says to be respectful with his girlfriend._

 _They're too young to worry you that much,_  Jean replied, heading off with Katie to the kids.

Scott shook his head before he headed down to the barn, not surprised to find K with one of the horses- though he did wait, watching to see what it was she was up to. And though it wasn't surprising to see her with one of them, he couldn't help but be surprised when he saw that she was working on, of course, the most stubborn horse of the bunch.

Jean's sister had gotten the gelding out of a rescue situation, but since his arrival at Xaviers - no one had had very much luck with him outside of brushing him when he was in a good mood - which wasn't often, and then they had to be sure to keep the treats coming. But no one had been able to  _ride_ him, yet … there was K, working him as though he was any other horse in the barn. Scott raised an eyebrow when he saw how willing he was responding to her commands, and by the time he was back in his stall and munching hay, Scott was smirking.

"You know," he said, "when we start running classes again, I bet we could start a riding club."

"Charles said they were here mostly as therapy animals," K said before she turned to face him. "Kids like to brush them … braid their manes … that kind of thing. I like to work them. You know. Therapy."

"That's true," Scott said. "But I'm sure we could do more with them. I know some of the kids would love to learn to ride."

K tipped her chin up a little at that, but didn't really keep that conversation moving. "I'll get the horses trained and safe for you."

"That would be great," Scott said. "Most of the team members have at least one class at the school. I think you'd be great as a riding instructor."

"I'm not a teacher, Scott."

Scott gestured at himself. "Neither am I. I didn't exactly get a teaching certificate or any real training. Most of us are still new at this, you know. We're learning together."

"I'm not on the team either," she pointed out.

"Not yet. I know you're sort of on both of them, but-"

"I thought I wasn't on either."

"Not officially," Scott said. "You haven't signed on."

"That's still 0 for 2."

"So sign on," Scott said, leaning against the door of the barn with a smirk.

"You're still blissed out and obviously not thinking clearly," K said as she started to sweep up he barn floor.

"Oh, so when I tried to get you to join our side in Avalon I was, what…"

"Taking out one of the big guns," K replied with a shrug. "It was tactical."

"K, I don't ask people to join my team - my  _family_ \- unless I mean it. Fight alongside us? Sure. I'll team up with people I don't necessarily like or trust if I have to. But the team means more to me than that. Has since I was a kid. I thought you knew that."

She was still keeping her distance from him as she swept up the alleyway. "That leaves a few questions, but … I'll just leave them, if it's all the same to you."

"Hey, it's sort of my job to answer questions, especially when it comes to the team. And like you said, I'm in a good mood. I'm not going to snap at you, K."

"So I won't wreck it," K said. "That's what I was getting at. Not that I was afraid you'd snap at me." She shrugged up her shoulders in a move that he now knew fairly well from the time they spent on Avalon, short as it was.

Scott let out a breath of a laugh. "Tell you what," he said. "I'll answer whatever questions you have and then if you think you've wrecked my mood, you can make it up to me by walking with me back to Jean and watching the kids for an hour while I get the mood back. Deal?"

"I'm not dumb enough to take that bet," K said. "Even if I didn't wreck your mood, I'd wreck your mood and as you can see - I'm trying to keep away from the high energy right now. I just don't really know that I'd fit in with your crowd, that's all."

Scott let out a long sigh and then took the few steps to where K was and put his hands on her shoulders. "The whole team is made up of misfits. That's kind of the point. I know you don't get it. I've tried to tell you a few times. But one of these times, you're going to realize I'm not blowing smoke."

She looked up at him and bit her lip for a moment. "I just think that when I got away from all the stupid with Erik, I should have just left."

"I wish you wouldn't," Scott said, releasing her shoulders as he looked honestly disappointed at the idea.

"Aside from  _your_ need to collect misfits," K replied, slowly going back to her sweeping. "I don't know what good I could do here."

"Hey, truth be told, it's not just me that wants you here. Jean likes you. And  _I_ like the fact that you can keep up with Logan. It would be nice to have someone that can go in with him so he  _doesn't_ come back looking like hell every time he ditches me."

"Yeah … that … is an interesting relationship there, big guy," K said slowly. "Is there something I haven't seen or do you really just like beating your head against the wall?"

Scott gestured openly. "You'd have to ask him. He's been dead set against me from day one, so… I just try to keep him alive."

"I'm pretty sure that part is like auto pilot for him," K said, raising an eyebrow at Scott. "But if you want me to figure out where you got your wires crossed …"

Scott smirked. "K, if you figure that out, you can have my spot on the team."

"I don't  _want_ your spot on the team, but I'm reasonably sure that's an easy dig." She tipped her head up again. "Give me … a month."

Scott blinked at her for a moment, not expecting the volunteering or the concrete time frame. "Alright. Let's see what you can do." Scott smirked. "And in the meantime, you're more than welcome to join the rest of the group, K. The only one who thinks you don't belong is you."

"I think you're wrong there, Cyclops," K said. "I'd check with the team first."

"My wife's a telepath. Believe me: I'd know if there were issues."

"Listen, sweetheart," K said in a much more brassy tone. "The only mind she's been interested in reading is yours."

"So I shouldn't read into the fact that she was looking for gossip the second we got home?" Scott teased.

"Nope. She got home, saw everyone, and realized that there was other life on the planet. Total overreaction."

Scott laughed outright at that. "If you say so." He kicked off from the wall of the barn and turned to leave. "Still. Think it over, please. I didn't make the offer lightly."

"I'll let you know after I get done with my recon for you," she said. "You'll appreciate it, before you offer again, I'm sure. Even if you are the only one offering."

Scott smirked at that. "Well, if you decide you don't want to be on a  _team_ , at least stay here at the school. Train the horses. Stay with the kids."

"Scott, I'm on the edge right now," K admitted.

"I'm trying to give you something you can do. I thought the problem was you didn't feel needed." He shrugged. "That's what Jean said."

"As usual, she only got half the picture," K said. "Probably got distracted partway through."

Scott chuckled and shook his head. "Alright. Then tell me the rest of the picture, K. You know I'm trying. Give me something I can work with."

"It's not you, so don't worry about it," K told him. "I just need to get past the anxiety. And I don't know if being in a group is going to help with that. Historically - not the best place for me." She shooed him off with both hands. "Go. Get a new baby going."

"You and Jan are conspiring," Scott said, shaking his head.

"I haven't talked to Jan in weeks," K said, "I can just read your baby face from a mile away."

"I don't know what that's supposed to  _mean,_  K."

"It's the reason I dropped Tony," K said. "The baby face. Your woman likes it - so just … go pretend like you need a reason to be cheered up."

Scott shook his head, though he still paused before he left. "You'll let me know if there's anything I can do?"

"If there was anything that could be done? Yes."


	58. Pivot Point

For quite some time, the remnants of Magento's defunct group had been in hiding. It had been beyond embarrassing for them as far as public humiliation went when Mystique had been unmasked as a fake - particularly since most of them were fairly sure that it  _was_ Magneto, though why they didn't realize she didn't manipulate metal or  _float_ was cause enough for much of their backing to simply … back off.

But they still had some followers. And they were rabid ones at that, so when they started to actually show their ugly faces with some serious heavyweights backing them, the combined teams had to act on it.

Of course, they pulled together at the mansion, and both Scott and Steve had called for all hands on deck so they could assemble the best possible strike force against them to take them down quickly.

But it was still kind of amazing that Scott had even managed to get K to show up at the meeting - what with her convinced that she had no business on either team. And though all of them were convinced that she was wrong, that first meeting with both teams was admittedly a little strained to start with. Especially since before all of them had shown up, Steve and Scott both were reasonably sure that it would require both ferals. And that would be the first time in a very long time that both of them had been working together -  _with_ Tony and the rest of the Avengers along.

Steve knew it was a killer one-two combo, and so did Scott - but …

When K finally walked in with Scott almost pushing her along with him, she wasn't in uniform, and she looked like she simply didn't want to be there. "Just tell me what you want me to do and drop me off," K muttered to Scott. "I don't need to be part of the planning."

"Yeah, no. I don't play chess with people like Magneto did. You get input. Get used to it. It's how people with a conscience lead."

"Didn't have input on getting here," she said out of the corner of her mouth to him.

"Fancy that," Scott said, glaring Logan's way when the snerk from him was audible.

"Everyone here, Slim?" Logan asked, arms crossed and poker face in place.

"Shut up, Logan."

"Just wanna make sure you got time to haul anyone else in if you need it."

"Alright," Steve said, cutting in before it could get heated. "They have a mob started up already - and it's growing in size and level of destruction. We're looking at the usual suspects that have been causing trouble in the Brotherhood's name - but they have a few new players on their side."

With a sweep of his hand, Tony put up the mugshots for the newest recruits to the brotherhood's rampage, though he didn't really say much when the pictures spoke for themselves: John Wraith and Avalanche of all people were apparently in lock step with Pyro, the Blob, and Toad.

"That is a lot of god-awful testosterone," K muttered to herself, which at least had Jan grinning.

"They've also got a few nasty ladies if you want to steer clear of the big guys," Steve said, looking overly serious about the whole affair.

"Like I told Scott - tell me who you want me to take out and I'll take them out. It's very simple," she replied.

"And considering how you've been treated by  _others_ ," Steve said. "We're going to give you a choice if we can."

"That's just sloppy," K said. "You know the strengths and weaknesses on both sides. You know what you want done. Unless it's a free for all."

"It's not a free for all," Steve said. "We need to partner up and hit them hard." When K simply blinked up at him, he let out a breath. "Natasha, Clint - I can count on you to work as a unit, right?"

"We really need to pair off, Cap?" Logan asked. "Not like we're likely to stick to it anyhow."

"What's wrong, Logan? Afraid of getting paired off with the wrong person?" Clint teased. "I already got Widow. You're stuck with whoever's left." Logan growled Clint's way for that as Natasha elbowed Clint hard in the ribs.

"Probably worried about getting K stuck with the wrong person," Tony said, and though he didn't mean it as a dig, most of them were staring at him openly, K included. Which had Tony trying to back track  _fast._ "Not … like that. I just …"

"I'll bite," K said in a perfectly neutral stance. "I don't know how this works when it's an 'after' thing like this. Usually you wouldn't be able to know where I went but for the dust cloud, so this is new."

"No reason for you to run off," Tony promised, and his expression read that he was honestly concerned she might do it. "It's just like before. We can talk. Joke around, pick when you're ready … work together - which, is kinda new, but you get my drift. The only thing that's different is that there's no sex."

For a moment, all of them looked as if they were holding their breath, sure that Tony had stepped in it - until of course, K let her voice drop to a low rumble. "That sounds  _awful_."

Tony blinked at her a few times before an honest grin graced his features and he broke down laughing, though clearly Steve and Scott weren't amused - and Jan looked a little concerned. Surprising no one, Logan didn't seem to react at all.

"Alright, you'll start out with me, K," Steve said. "We'll adjust as conditions warrant it." When she nodded, he was sure to turn toward her, partially blocking out the others. "And if you can work with Tony, I think you'd be an asset to our team." He smiled a little crookedly. "Clint's right. We've got a great track record for turning people around."

K didn't know what to say to that, and instead, she simply stuck to his side like she knew he expected her to do. But even at that, it took Steve a little while to breach the subject of teams. They were halfway to the probable fight when Steve gently cleared his throat and turned K's direction with a soft tone. "I don't know what direction you're thinking of taking, but … don't discount us on account of Tony. I know there's some …."

"There's nothing to be concerned with," K said flatly. "He's doing well and I'm happy for him. That's all that matters. If there's a problem, it won't be from me."

"Alright then," Steve said, relaxing slightly. He wasn't entirely convinced of what she'd said, of course. Not when she still looked tense all the way to the fight.

As soon as they hit the ground, Steve headed off with K - fully expecting to get the 'new' brotherhood's attention by bringing her along. And as usual, it worked like a charm. The red, white and blue motif was enough to draw their eye, but the tiny woman next to him had their ire. The crowd of ne'er do wells was a lot larger than they'd anticipated though. Almost a hundred impressionable young mutants - most of them down and out, many of them homeless by the look of them - and they all looked livid when the combined team of Avengers and X-Men appeared.

"Traitors!" Came the cry from somewhere in the middle of the crowd. "You've betrayed mutant kind!" a moment later, a shoe whipped through the air - aimed at Scott, of course.

He didn't see it coming until just before it would have hit him in the side of the head - and he batted it out of the way, but that really wasn't the point. This … was just a more intense outlook to what Magento had preached against the X-Men.

"You really can't win for losing, can you?" K said to Scott across the way, who of course gave her a dry look.

"Let's just disperse the crowd and try to deal with the 'Brotherhood' quickly," Scott said, frowning in the direction that the projectile had come from.

K looked up at Steve, who nodded his agreement, and a moment later, the two of them were rushing for the crowd. All K could spot as she ran forward was Pyro. He was playing with a little flame - making it dance across his fingertips as he waited for her. He never had liked her - and K knew if he got even half of a shot, he'd do his best to torch her and melt her skeleton into a puddle. Which really just made her want to cut his head off.

Scott had taken a direct route, but of course, he and Logan were on a collision course with the Blob. The ground was shaking as he stomped his way toward the two X-Men. It was still new territory for the Avengers to cross into dealing with people like Fred Dukes, but … here they were, nonetheless. Steve paused - in awe at Fred's sheer  _size_ , but his moment to recalculate things was interrupted when Wraith appeared out of nowhere - just a tiny, almost inaudible  _pop_ announcing his arrival before he cracked Steve is the face hard.

The fist fight between them should have been a simple enough matter, or it would have been if Wraith hadn't been teleporting all around Steve - almost gleefully attacking. Until of course Tony peppered the area around Steve with some new mini rockets. Of course, when Wraith was hit, he did the only thing that made sense to him - and teleported over to grab a hold of K. Of course, when they reappeared near Pyro, Wraith's scream was easily heard when K stabbed him high through his shoulder and  _twisted._

"Non lethal!" Steve shouted on hearing the scream.

"Kestrel!" Logan snarled out - and just like that, Wraith froze as he stared up at K then shook his head at the whole group.

"I do  _not_ have to put up with this kind of abuse. Nice to see you too, Logan!" Wraith shouted before he simply teleported out of there - and didn't appear anywhere that K could see. He was gone no longer than a few minutes before Pyro let loose a stream of fire that K rushed to dodge, but still ended up getting part of her uniform melted to one arm as she got behind cover. Not that it helped much. Pyro just poured on the heat, knowing damn well that he had her pinned.

What little air around her that wasn't on fire was shimmering in waves as the fire stayed steady - roaring in her ears and eating up all the oxygen around her. She was starting to lose her grip - and her body was losing strength as the air around her burned … until very suddenly it didn't.

She thought she was seeing things as Janet seemed to appear almost out of nowhere - growing quickly to her normal size after having nailed Pyro. "Oh, you can't pass out now," Jan said, pulling to keep K from falling over sideways. "We're not even halfway done here!"

"I just need to breathe," K admitted though the buzzing sensation across her arm and shoulder followed with intense searing pain wasn't … any kind of fun. She glanced over at her arm and found that Pyro hadn't done her any favors.

"Are you going to be okay? Do I need to get you back to base?"

"No, I just … give me a minute. You don't have to stay here, I'll be okay."

"Your arm is  _charcoal_ ," Janet said, looking pale and alarmed.

"It's mostly the uniform," K swore. "And what isn't the uniform will heal. I just … I need to breathe and I couldn't in the fire."

"Well. I took care of him," Jan said, tipping her chin up. "He won't be bothering anyone for a while.

"Thanks," K said as she got to her feet. Jan didn't know it, but Tony was hovering close by and K just  _knew_ if she didn't get moving that he'd be there to scoop her up and get her out of the action. And she wasn't ready to leave yet.

"Oooh! Go easy!" Jan said, holding out both hands as K swayed for a moment.

"I've got it. Really," K promised, looking out over the crowd to see where she might do the most good. Avalanche was trying to bring down a building that Clint was on top of - though when Jan followed K's line of sight, she let out a little 'eep' and zipped off to help there. It was a lot harder for him to do any damage to someone that wasn't relying on solid ground, and when his attention was turned, Clint managed to get off that building and to a different vantage point.

Not far from them, Scott and Steve were working on the Blob and Tony was more or less taking out the smaller threats from a distance.

It was busy, but still a probably win for the guys in the white hats. She rushed into the crowd to help break up the party, but she wasn't into it very deeply before she found herself in a tight knot. The people around her were pressing in - and it seemed like a couple of them anyhow were invulnerable - or at least partly so by the way they were pressing in on her.

Until of course, Logan burst through the line. He reached out to pull her closer, then as if it had been the plan all along, the two of them stood almost back to back as the crowd closed in and simply started fighting the onslaught.

Scott and Steve got the opening they'd been looking for - finally - and with a heavy, echoing  _whomp_ Fred Dukes dropped - unconscious to the ground. Both Steve and Scott were working hard to catch their breath as they turned to see how the fight was going elsewhere and see where they were needed when Steve let out a breathy little laugh from the very back of his throat. "For as long as I've known him, I've never seen him fall into a groove that easily with someone he hasn't worked with for a  _long_ time."

Scott looked up and tried to control the smirk when he saw that Steve was watching Logan and K absolutely decimate their opponents - no claws either since they were idiot civilians and  _so far_ no one had really given them an honest threat. But it was bound not to stay that way. Logan was the one to take the first serious hit - a gunshot wound out of nowhere that nailed him in the upper arm and forced him to back off on that side of the fight.

And it set K off. She grabbed Logan's good arm and pulled hard, spinning him to face the side she'd been fighting before she dove forward with her claws out to hammer the guy that had shot Logan. The guy that had fired regretted it quickly, and as soon as the crowd closed in around her, Logan kicked his way into where she was to help  _her._ It was a seamless back and forth between them that had yet to require them to speak, and though they'd done it several times on missions and outings before … it was the first time that Tony saw it.

He was high above the much faster-dispersing crowd when he heard the gunshot - and turned in time to see K pull Logan out of the line of fire and dive in. For an instant he started toward them, but before he could get anywhere near them, Logan had already fallin in to cover her back - and then from there on out, he couldn't help but just …  _watch_. "Did you know about that?" Tony asked over the comm to Steve.

"What? That those two are unstoppable when they're teamed up? Yeah. They've been like that since the first time they ended up working together."

"I just … do they practice that?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Scott said, cutting in when Tony landed near them. "They just … kinda do that."

Tony stared at Scott for a moment then went back to watching K and Logan work together. He honestly hadn't noticed how well they did together. And that on its own was an understatement. She was ducking in time for Logan to swing over her head at their opponents, and he'd pull her out of trouble without so much as  _looking_ at what was going on around them. They couldn't possibly have had the  _time_ to develop a system like that. "Huh."

When the fight was finally over - and the last of the creeps had disappeared, Logan and K were both worn out and out of breath. But … something was very different than all the other times they'd fought arm in arm like that. K didn't really hear anything that Scott or Steve said going back to the jet, and it took her a lot of effort to focus on Steve - or even look his way when she could  _feel_ Logan looking at her from across the way. Every time she stole a glance at him, he simply met her gaze until she looked away. Which was getting harder and harder to do. And she knew she had to listen to what Steve was saying … She did  _not_ want to tell Captain America that she spaced on him when he was saying something that she was pretty sure … meant… something.

"You'll at least think about it, won't you?" Steve said - and that was the first thing out of his mouth that had even cracked into K's awareness.

"Sure," K said, blinking a few times, which got Logan smirking - but he had yet to drop her gaze.

She didn't see Tony watching the whole interaction with a curious expression on his face, looking from one to the other back and forth as he thought it over. Logan was openly easy to read. K … Tony had seen that look on her before. Just … not from this angle.

So when they landed, Tony was sure to clear the jet  _fast_  with Jan, ready to quiz her on what she knew - and how long it had been going on.

Of course, Natasha had more or less dragged Clint off right on their heels - and given Clint such a  _look_ when he made a show of going slower to irk her. But once K was off the plane last she rushed to head off to the locker room ahead of Scott, Steve and Logan.

She didn't get beyond the first corner though when Logan called out to her and grabbed a hold of her hand. He pulled on her hard - and when she got close enough, he was sure to steal a kiss that absolutely wasn't just a quick peck. She wasn't expecting it, but it only took a moment or two before she reciprocated the kiss.

She had no idea how long they'd been there - wrapped up  _entirely_ \- when Steve cleared his throat - and finally, the kiss broke long enough for them both to glance over at an incredulous looking Steve, though Scott was smirking even through the shock.

Logan raised an eyebrow at Steve. "Did you want something?" he asked.

"I just ... " Steve shook his head. "No. It's the hall …"

"Then keep walkin'," Logan said, though he didn't let go of K as the two of them finished walking by. As soon as they were out of sight again, K pulled him over to start it back up again while they had the hall under the mansion to themselves.


	59. New Couples

The following day, Logan was once again wrenching on his Jeep - this time changing the axle lockers to a better set up for a lot more trouble on the trail than what he'd been getting into so far. The radio was playing old country tunes and of course, he had a beer near the small collection of tools he was using.

He hadn't been at it for too long - just long enough to make a mess, really, and he had a smear of grease across his cheekbone that he was absolutely ignoring as he worked.

It was a big job, and he was sure it was going to take every bit of the weekend to get it done - even if he had help - and to his surprise, Scott had said he'd meet him in the garage before too long. It wasn't the kind of project Scott did - let alone volunteered for.

So he wasn't entirely expecting it when Natasha slid under the Jeep with him. "So …." she started out, letting her sentiment fall. Logan turned her way and simply held her gaze for a long while, unwilling to comment on anything. "You're not going to tell me anything? I can be just as patient as you."

"The fact that you came crawlin' under here to talk says otherwise," Logan replied in an even monotone.

"I just want to know if you have resolution on the matter from yesterday," Natasha said in her most professional tone.

"I thought the mission went alright," Logan said as he simply went back to work. "Didn't see how you did."

"Of course not," Natasha replied as she handed him a socket wrench. "You were busy paying attention to other things." She smirked crookedly. "So … is this the first that you've been away from her or …"

"The hell are you talkin' about?" Logan asked, turning her way with a frown.

Natasha paused for a moment and blinked twice. "Are you trying to tell me you didn't make a move on K?"

"Are you tryin' to tell me you think she's that easy?" Logan asked. Natasha shrugged, but before she could say anything further, Logan continued. "Cause if you want me to point out how quick  _you_ jumped into bed with Stark-"

"No, not necessary," Natasha replied, then paused. "And not the same thing, either." When Logan didn't seem like he was willing to volunteer anything Natasha took a stab in the dark. "So you have her out of your system then?"

Logan let his head fall back against the creeper he was using. "Are you honestly gonna sit here and talk about  _this_ the whole damn time?"

"Not if you just tell me without making me jump through hoops."

"I'm not talkin' about this with you, Tash. Go bother your stupid looking boy toy."

"I'm only watching out for you."

"Don't need a babysitter."

"Debatable," Natasha said, and Logan turned to hold her gaze with a very unamused look that naturally, Natasha returned. At least … she did until Scott showed up ready to work.

"If you don't need the help," Scott started to say, but Logan cut across him.

"Nah, she was just jawin' a little bit," Logan said. "But she's in a rush to get back to Barton." He held her gaze - though Scott certainly didn't see it, and with a final disappointed look from Natasha, she shook her head and slid out from under the Jeep.

"All yours," she said, not even trying to hide her disappointment as she took Scott's offered hand so he could pull her upright before she stalked out of the garage.

Scott didn't comment as he took Natasha's place and slid under the Jeep to help. But when he got a good look at everything under there - it honestly had Scott a little more confused than just moments before.

The underside of the Jeep was banged up a little, sure - but most of it was simply scratches and dings on the armor that kept the working parts and gas tank from getting torn up. Everything looked  _new_  otherwise. Including the gear locker Logan was changing. "What are you gearing up to?" Scott asked.

"Just makin' it better for off road," Logan replied as Scott wordlessly handed him the wrench he needed and the two of them began working - almost silently until the job was  _done._ Which was saying something, considering that Jean had sent the kids out to bring them food when it was clear they were both engrossed in the job at hand.

Logan, for his part kept his focus as he worked, even when Scott couldn't help but watch him for a moment. It wasn't like him to not pick at all. Even if he was working … there was always  _something_. Scott wasn't sure if he liked it better or if it had him worried.

But … once they were finally done. Or as done as they could be without taking it for a test drive, Logan let out a breath and just stared up at the locker for a moment. "Now … just gotta take it out and see how much better it is," he said - the most he'd said all day.

"Is that something you're going to do now?" Scott asked cautiously. He didn't want to start anything, but he also knew that if he was going to go mudding, that maybe things weren't as cozy with K as they'd looked after that last mission.

"No," Logan said, shaking his head. "Best to do that when it's light out. Easier to see the trouble coming."

Scott smirked to himself - his back to Logan as he nodded. "Maybe when you're free you could help me take a look at my Mustang. Pretty sure I've got some brake line trouble."

"Sure," Logan said, sounding a little distracted as he started cleaning his hands. "Bout time to check the transmission isn't it?"

"Yeah, actually," Scott replied - more than a little surprised that Logan was even  _aware_ of what needed to be done to his restoration project.

"If you got the parts, I can figure out some time," Logan replied as he tossed the rag he was using into the trash. "I'm headed up."

"Previous engagement?"

"Shower," Logan said with a dry look Scott's way. "An' you're about as subtle as Jeannie is." he didn't wait to hear what Scott had to say before he simply left the garage. The truth of it was that even though  _he_ was interested, the girl was more than a little skittish, and he knew it. And as it stood, Logan was more concerned that K take care of Katie than to worry about pushing for more for himself.

Not that it stopped anyone else from getting a little obnoxious about things.

Logan had taken the time to clean up - and to slowly make his way out of the dormitories on his way to play some pool when he managed to catch up with K, who was by some miracle  _not_ mobbed with the pack of kids that followed her around more often than not. So naturally, he had to see if he could push his luck. A little anyhow. He let out a low, soft whistle that caught her attention, and he couldn't help but let the smirk stretch into a smile when she turned his way with a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. As with most of their little interactions, not a word was spoken before he stepped up to steal a long and rather involved kiss …. That was promptly interrupted by a very tiny wolf whistle.

Or … an attempt at one anyhow. "Tommy …." K said as the kiss broke and she turned his way. "What are you doing sneaking around?"

" _Catchin' people kissin'!"_ Tommy laughed before he started nearly crowing. "WAIT TIL MOM HEARS ABOUT THIS!" He started cackling to himself as he started to run - though he didn't make it far before he nearly ran into Kitty, who apparently had been hiding around the corner.

"An' that makes two," Logan said quietly as he looked over K's shoulder in time to see a fluff of brown curls disappear around the corner. "Hope you didn't want to keep this on the down low."

"That was never going to work in this kind of place," K said in a little sigh. "Which … is fine. I didn't really want to do secrets. Don't think I'm very good at them anyhow."

"I'm gonna go ahead and disagree," Logan said in a low rumble as he leaned forward. He had closed his eyes as he nestled his nose into her hair. "You're plenty sneaky when you want to be."

"I got busted by  _Hawkeye_ ," she said flatly - earning herself a little laugh from Logan before he redirected her attention.

"And we just got busted by Kitty and Tommy. But you weren't behind closed doors this time."

"No," she agreed, softening up a little before she let out a breath and leaned into him better. "It's a little different set of circumstances though."

"And you don't care if you're caught now."

"I really don't want to hide anything."

"That's a big leap for you."

K smirked and turned her head to steal a kiss. "You may have a point."

"Cap's comin' over this weekend," Logan told her between kisses  _before_ they could get too involved … which … was a real threat the way she was finally starting to relax with him.

"Bully for him," she replied quietly as she nuzzled into his neck.

"They're separatin' the teams a little again. He's lookin' for his pick of Avengers."

"Again. I'm not sure why you're telling me this."

"Because he's gonna ask both of us to go with him."

At that K did stop and pulled back to look at him more squarely. "They don't want me there. Why would they ask me?"

"Sweetheart, you're missin' it if you really believe that." Logan gave her a raised eyebrow look and pulled her tighter - specifically to change the subject, which of course, worked like a charm.

* * *

The weekend at Westchester had been… eventful, if Jan was putting it mildly. It was one thing to come over to find that Tommy just  _had_ to tell everyone about how  _gross_ it was that Logan and K were swapping spit, and it was another thing on top of that for Tony to have sat down with Steve sorting out the Avengers roster after Logan opted to stay with the X-Men… and Jan had a feeling that would eventually mean K would stick with them too, all things considered.

So, yeah, sort of a weird weekend, all told. At least with Peter  _needing_ to be around his friends, Jan would still get to hang out with her new favorite drinking buddy and K, who was fast becoming, well, she  _hoped_ a friend.

Peter was absolutely conked out asleep from all the excitement, though Jan stayed in the doorway and watched as Tony got the little guy all situated in his room and then stole a quick kiss when Tony left Peter's room. "Okay, so. Lots to process, right? Getting back to normal… sorta?"

"Yeah, I just … can't believe he turned Cap down," Tony said, shaking his head - and obviously deflecting. "Did you find out something we didn't?"

Jan shook her head. "No. I mean, I guess I just assumed it was because they have a huge school and he's got a flock of girls that like living there?"

Tony shook his head at that. "Nope, not the tipping point. He said it wasn't anyone in particular. Just that he thought it was a better fit with the X-Men for his  _main_ focus."

Jan frowned at that and then shrugged. "Well, we've got it all set up that we can still help each other when we need it, so it's not, like,  _super_ separate like it used to be anyway…"

"Oh yeah, he stopped short of handing over the ID," Tony said. "He's still an Aveger, it's just that he wants to stay in Westchester." He shook his head at that. "You'd think it'd be an easy opt out for how well he and Summers get along…"

"Yeah, I … am not going to get into that dangerous interpersonal web of… whatever," Jan said, making a face and waving a hand. She bit her lip and looked up at Tony. "And… um… are  _you_ okay?" she asked after a moment. "Because… you're not. But… I have to ask."

"Yeah, I just … I guess I didn't entirely believe that she meant it - but well …" he shrugged. "Pretty clear 'done' with a message like that - remind me to thank Tommy. That was  _darling._ "

Jan frowned and then darted over to hug Tony tighter. "I know it still hurts, and I'm sorry, and I wish I could make it stop hurting," she muttered into his chest.

"It's fine, really," he said, pulling her in a little tighter. "Kind of my own fault for wondering where she'd go next … and that is about as far from me as possible."

Jan paused, smirked, and shook her head. "Nope. Not gonna go there," she decided.

"Could be fun," Tony teased.

"What, talking about  _dark-haired guys_ who are  _good with kids_  and throw themselves at danger for the people they care about?" Jan shook her head. "Noooooo, not a type at  _all_."

Tony blinked at her a few times. "That's quite the stretch."

"Um, no. I'm right. I drank with him a  _lot_ while you guys were dating. I know what I'm talking about here."

"Ri-i-ight. I almost forgot about all the drinking parties and  _piggy back rides._ "

At that, Jan simply giggled. "He wouldn't let me drive after half a bottle!"

"And that explains you getting piggyback rides. Okay. he's smarter than he lets on," Tony teased.

"And you're cuter than him anyway, so - too bad for her!" Jan poked him in the chest. "Upgrade for me!"

"Well I feel as if you're contractually obligated to say so," Tony said in a flat tone just to rile her.

Jan let out a huff. "Um, excuse you. I don't date  _down_. You must be at  _least_ this hot to ride this ride." She held up her hand to the level of her ears.

"Well … that blows him out of the water for height alone ... " Tony grinned. "You got a big list or is there room for someone outside of Harrison Ford?"

"Mmm, I'd have to see you all… shirtless and sexy," Jan said, tapping her finger against her chin. "For a proper comparison."

Tony pulled a face at that. "Yeah, I know I'm not winning that one."

"What?" Jan shook her head. "Come on. You're  _Tony_. I know you're not letting the suit do  _all_ the work."

"Yeah. I'm Tony with a big hunk of metal in his chest." He raised an eyebrow at her at that. "Don't tell me you missed that little detail."

"Um, honestly?" Jan shrugged. "It doesn't bother me. I always thought it was cool."

"Well that's just an odd trend is what that is." He paused and gave her a concentrated look. "Have you been comparing  _notes_ with K?"

" _Please_. No way." Jan smirked and started to play with the edge of his shirt. "C'mon. I'd  _tell_ you if you were ugly. Lemme see so I can judge for myself up close."

"I know I'm not  _ugly_ ," Tony said. "Just … not gonna be winning any shirtless contests anytime soon. Or … ever. Likely."

Jan rolled her eyes and then simply started to push his shirt up. And once she had it over his abs, she was smirking. "I like what I see  _so far_ …"

Tony couldn't help but break down laughing at that. "Oh. is that how you start it up, Ms. Van Dyne? I didn't think you'd be so  _direct_ with the boy here."

"He'll be fine; we'll hang a sock. I  _clearly_ have more important things to do, Mr. Thinks He's Afflicted." She kept pushing until he had to pick up his arms so she could push the shirt higher. "See? God, you're hot."

Tony was grinning at her by that point. "Alright. I think you've made your point. So … we should probably move this elsewhere unless you're a secret exhibitionist too."

"Um, no, especially not with Peter  _right there_ , but like -" Jan grinned and stole a kiss. "For the record? Totally beats Harrison Ford."

"Being  _available_ and  _present_ probably help with those stats …"

"And charming and funny and  _really cute with Peter_ …"

"Right back at you," Tony replied before he pulled her tighter to pick her up and carry her off.

* * *

In Westchester, the kids of Xavier's had a great focus for their giggles as Logan and K weren't even considering trying to hide their newly minted relationship. And the kids  _loved it_. Logan was in fine form and his girls, Kitty and Jubilee, were practically walking on air waiting for things to get more serious. The whole while, Kitty was being overly smug about all of it, too insisting that she  _knew_ they were supposed to be a thing.

"Ever since Japan, I knew it," Kitty whispered to Jubilee, her eyes wide.

"You said that," Jubilee giggled, shoving Kitty's shoulder.

"Uh huh. And look! I'm right!" Kitty said pulling Jubilee around the corner and down the hall to where Katie was playing with Kurt. "Hey! You need to come with us, Katie. Did you  _see_ your mom is kissin' our  _dad_?"

"A lot," Jubilee said, nodding slowly. "Like.  _A lot_  a lot."

"Yeah, I know  _that_ ," Katie said, scrunching up her nose and shaking her head. "I see it allll the time. It's just  _happening_  like that."

"It's very nice," Kurt said with a smile.

Katie grinned his way. "Uh-huh!" She turned back to the girls and bounced slightly on her toes. "So, are we gonna go say hi? They don't really  _like_ when you peek on them when they're kissing."

"They don't really  _care_  when you catch 'em kissin'," Kitty countered, arms crossed.

"Yeah, but  _I_ care," Katie said. "Because I like when they kiss but I also like when they kiss  _me_!"

"Have they talked to you yet about a  _movie_ night?" Kitty asked. "Cause I think that's code for a reason to  _sleep over_."

Katie giggled. "Oooh, yes! I wanna sleep over!"

"Let's tell 'em we're all gonna do a sleep over!" Jubilee said, bouncing in place. "We can go to  _you_  cause I think you gots a bigger  _room_  than Logan does."

"Oooh, yes!" Katie said, nodding and bouncing. "You can sleep over with me! And - and we can get hugs and kisses from my mom and your dad!"

"Come on then," Kitty said, taking Katie's hand. "Let's go tell 'em we neeeed to do this  _tonight_." The three little girls started off - and it wasn't any time at all before Jubilee rushed to catch up and took Katie's other hand - giving the three of them a unified front as they marched over to where, yes … Logan and K were still fairly wrapped up in each other tucked out of the main flow of the house.

"Katie has somethin' to tell you two!" Jubilee shouted, which at least got the two of them to  _stop_.

Katie giggled. "We're havin' a sleepover!" she said. "Jubes and Kitty're coming over!"

"Are you now?" K asked, turning to face the three of them.

"Uh-huh. Cuz you're kissin' Logan," Katie said matter-of-factly. "So if he's comin' over, I wanna have a sleepover too!"

K blinked at her for a moment, simply because that wasn't exactly what had been going on. Yet. "So you decided this all on your lonesome or did you have help from the terrible twosome?"

"Um. Yes."

"You girls tryin' your hand at pushin, eh?" Logan said with a smirk.

" _No_ ," Kitty said, looking supremely insulted as she pushed a particularly unruly curl out of her face. "But this is  _just like Japan_ , and I  _liked_ Japan."

"And I wanna sleepover!" Katie said, one hand on her hip.

"You sure you're not tryin' those two troublemakers out for more than just best friends?" Logan teased -just to see what Katie's reaction would be.

Katie looked at Kitty and Jubilee and then up at Logan. "Well, we gots to  _pick_ who our families are, and I pick them! I got lots of 'em!"

"It's a little more complicated than that," Logan told her. "Everyone's gotta agree to  _that_."

"Um, okay, but I still get a sleepover, right?" Katie asked, her head tipped to the side.

K and Logan shared a look for a long moment before K finally nodded slowly. "Alright. We can have a slumber party. If you  _really_ want to."

The little girls shared a troublemaking look that lasted all of three seconds before all of them burst forward at a dead run shouting out what they were bringing to the party.

"I've got sleepin' bags!" Kitty called out.

"And I've got a super fluffy blanket!" Jubilee shouted. "We can make a  _fort_ with it!"

"I'll bring my toys so we can have lots of friends!" Katie shouted, trying her best to keep up and giggling the whole time.


	60. Custody Arrangements

Katie was perfectly tickled.

Ever since her mom had started doing more hero things, she had seemed a lot happier, especially because it seemed like right around when she started doing hero things was when she started  _kissing Logan_.

Katie had definitely noticed. She had. She knew her mom wasn't trying to be very sneaky, because she knew her mom could be the  _sneakiest ever_ if she wanted to be - so she thought it was probably okay that she knew her mom was kissing Logan  _and_ Tony was kissing Jan, so everyone was happy.

And if Katie was honest, she was  _happy_ her mom and Logan were together. She liked Logan, and she liked that he let her ride on his motorcycle with him around the lawn, and she liked that he had helped her tell her mom about her teddy bear, she liked that he let her hand him tools if she found him working on things in the garage, and she liked that he would play with her and stuff. She still liked Tony, and she liked when he would come over with Peter on the weekends to see them. But she  _also_ liked Logan. So it was like getting to have  _lots_ of parents in one place.

She liked  _all_ of it. She liked that Tony would drop everything and pick her up and spin her around when he came over. And she liked that Logan made her mom  _smile_ and that he let her climb in with them and snuggle sometimes in the morning - because after the  _first_ sleepover with Kitty and Jubilee, Logan had started to stay over a  _lot_. Kitty and Jubes too.

And when she peeked her head in that morning and saw her mom still snuggled up with Logan, she giggled - and then she saw Logan smirk at her over K's head and giggled some more. She put her fingers over her lips, snickered hard, and then skipped off to let her mom snuggle Logan some more.

She liked how happy her mom was when she snuggled Logan. A lot.

She also liked that she wasn't  _alone_. Kitty and Jubilee were the  _best_ sisters and the three of them would try their best to stay up late at night, giggling with flashlights under the covers until usually, Jubilee or Katie would fall asleep first.

"I got the best life," Katie told K that evening - after K had managed to get her ready for bed  _and_ helped her get her teddy bear ready for bed too.

"You really are the luckiest little girl I know," K agreed before she kissed her forehead - though she had to pause when Katie quickly reached up and wrapped her arms around K's neck.

"I got a mom who loves me lots, and I got a Tony  _and_ a Logan," Katie listed off. "And 'cause I got a Tony, I also got a Jan  _and_ a Jubes and a Kitty and a Peter!" She grinned. "I have the best family ever." With that, she hugged K again. "Thanks for findin' me, Mom."

"Thanks for being brave and going with me," K told her quietly as she gave Katie a solid squeeze.

* * *

It was a rainy sort of day when K made her way into Scott's office - almost exactly one month after their discussion in the barn. She didn't say a word after he'd told her to come in - and instead, she simply took a seat, crossed her legs, and entwined her fingers to wait for him to figure out  _why_ she was there.

"K, if this is about Katie's newest obsession, for the last time, Jean and I aren't actively  _trying_ ," he said without looking up. "If she recruited you…"

K smirked and leaned slightly forward. "You're not  _not_ trying, so that's the same as trying, and if you want to speed it up a little give her a few days … the weekend anyhow, before you throw it into high gear, but that is  _not_ why I'm here."

Scott blinked behind his glasses for a moment and then smirked crookedly. "No, of course not." There was a pause before Scott couldn't stop himself. "A few days?"

"That's all," she said, smirking a little more crookedly at him. "That's kinda why I'm here now. I don't want to screw up your  _timing_ when my month is so close to being up."

"Ah." Scott nodded and straightened up a little. "I really hope you've decided to stay with us, but I did promise I wouldn't force you-"

"First of all … you couldn't force me, But again. I'm not here to argue that, or to discuss if I'm planning to stay or not." K smiled a little wider at him and leaned forward. "I know  _everything_."

"Wait, what?"

"I know  _everything._ " She was clearly well beyond smug and  _so_ confident in her statement that it was clear she was leaving no wiggle room for doubt. "And I can't believe you haven't figured it out. It's right  _there_ , Scott."

"Alright," Scott said slowly. "What are you talking about?"

"This stupid division between you and Logan," she said, shaking her head. "It's not either one of your faults. At all. And FYI, he  _absolutely_ doesn't hate you. It's all a ridiculous misunderstanding just from personality issues"

Scott let out a breath and then looked back down at the notes he was reading. "Right. I think he might be giving you the softer version while you're kissing."

"Scott. Have I ever lied to you?" She tipped her head to the side.

"Knowingly?" Scott shot back.

"Alright. Listen. I figured it out before the kissing, and I didn't ask him anything directly anyhow. I just wanted to make you wait until the last minute. I got it from him with pure evasion and manipulation. No kissing or anything like it  _needed_. Besides. If I'm with him for kissing and  _other things_ , you aren't anywhere near the forefront of my mind."

"Alright. I'll bite," Scott said.

K smirked. "When was the first time you butted heads?" Before he could answer she added "And was it before or  _after_  he found out you were like … five minutes past seventeen and never been kissed?"

"That's an exaggeration," Scott said.

"Of course it is. But I was referring to actual  _battle_ , not sucking Jean's lipsmackers off. Though I don't know. That might have been a battle too." Again, before he could answer, she expanded on it. "And before you strain something trying to figure it ou, I want you to try and put yourself in his shoes for two seconds. He was a battle hardened  _weapon_  that was already questioning the people that were in charge of him that were also battle hardened soldiers. He went from a semi-legitimate, government funded operation to a private group of green teenagers - and was told in no uncertain terms to follow the teenager with minimal real life battle experience. It was never you. It was the situation."

"Yeah, listen," Scott said, leaning forward. "The whole team was young. If it was my age, he'd have an issue with all of us."

"The whole team was young except for him," K said. "And you're not hearing me. He didn't want to lead, and the way I read the files - and your reports - there was a LOT of rookie mistakes happening  _all_ around. Not just from you, either.  _Everyone_ , Logan included."

Scott let out a noise in the back of his throat. "Right."

"I'm very sure he hated the situation. That much was proven by the monumental number of screw ups that directly related to his  _pride_ , but he still followed your lead most of the time," K pointed out. "Even when he knew the directions you all were following was wrong."

"Right." Scott got to his feet. "Is there anything else you wanted to tell me? Maybe you'd like to tell me who's better suited to run things. Since I make so many mistakes."

K shook her head at that and frowned up at him. "No … that's not … No. Scott. What I tried to tell you was past tense. Right now, he would tear everyone apart to help you out if you needed it," K said. "And I  _didn't say_  you did a bad job. If you were that bad he would have left."

"Right."

"You don't like what I'm saying, so you're going to shut me out." K shook her head, her smile long gone. "I said I'd find out what caused the trouble, but you don't want to hear that. And it's frustrating to everyone that you two are idiots with each other. And you gloss over the good stuff. Like the fact that you have proven yourself over and over again. I'm not criticizing you. I just trying to tell you right now, that when it comes to him, you need to pay attention - because when he's given the  _choice_ of who he'd rather follow, he's picking  _you_." She got to her feet to meet him partway. "If you don't believe me, ask Cap about what he had to say when he asked Logan to go to them full time."

"Seems masochistic to me. Since he hates following the kid."

"He hat _ed_  following the kid. To start with. Now? He picked you over Captain America." She started toward the door, only pausing as she opened it. "He's trying to talk me into the same."

"And what's  _your_ assessment?" Scott asked, his body language still defensive.

"I've got doubts on if I'd be heard. I wanted to see how open you were to hearing what you don't want to believe."

Scott shook his head. "K," he said slowly, "you're missing the mark. I already  _knew_ what Logan thought of me. You think I don't hear how much better he is all the time? This isn't new information."

"That's not  _at all_  what I was trying to say. And you've let that color what he thinks of you now."

"Haven't seen anything different."

"Then you must not be looking." She gave him a little smirk that didn't have any playfulness to it at all. "You know what? Forget it. I'm sorry to have wasted your time."

"You're not joining then," Scott said - since, after all, he was sure that's where this was headed. And it was hard not to resent it, all things considered.

"I don't know what I'm doing," she said, gesturing openly. "But as far as  _teams_ go, neither looks very attractive right now. I can't tell you anything that you'll  _hear,_ and with the Avengers, I have Tony acting  _odd_  because he's not … himself yet. And that's on me. But this? I figure I'll let you soak on it, and we can talk again some other time." She shook her head. "I can see I'm not phrasing this how you'll be open to hear it. Unfortunately, I'm not a telepath, so I can't just … give it to you the way you're used to, and frankly, I don't want to screw anything  _else_ up at this point. So. Might be better if I did just leave."

"Saturday. We'll talk again Saturday," Scott said firmly. "If you wait any longer than that, I'll be thinking about this and not Jean, and apparently I need to be working on that too." He gave her the barest smirk. "So … I guess I've got the weekend, right? Saturday. After the team exercises, which I want to see you participate in. Even if you haven't picked."

K sighed heavily. "If I can't make myself clear by then, I'm not going to keep trying." K stepped out of the office and then let out a breath before she headed down to the records. She already knew how to get around the newest measures in place, even if Tony had set it up himself when he was feeling a bit nasty toward her, so it was simply a matter of finding the right files - the  _original files_ that detailed exactly how Charles had gone about recruiting everyone. What his approach was with all of them, including the notes he had for each of them on his impression at the time. She wasn't sure if it would help her or not, but it had to be clear that Charles had two different trains of thought running at the time. And he  _hadn't_ shared with both sides. Which meant that Logan had a better idea of what Charles was up to, and like the good little soldier that he was - he wasn't going to give it up on his own.

* * *

If Jan was honest, she didn't  _really_ want to go to Westchester that weekend, even if she knew Peter would be  _so_ disappointed if he didn't get to see his friends.

It was just that she'd been  _really_ enjoying having Tony and Peter all to herself. And finally getting Tony to jump in with her was seriously  _fun_.

But on the other hand, she knew that Tony had really been hurting when he heard about Logan and K, so Jan was trying to figure out how to navigate this whole weekend, because even if K was moving on, that kind of hurt didn't just magically disappear, either. And she really did  _like_ K.

"Should be an interesting weekend," Tony said. "Joint team exercises and all …"

"You gonna be okay?" Jan asked, glancing up from where she was snuggled in and not all that much in a hurry to get out of bed just yet.

He shifted a little so he could steal a peek. "I said I would be …"

"Uh-huh. And  _are_ you?"

"Yeah, of course," he said, nodding. "I just don't know what kind of team exercises we'll all be  _doing_ or who's going to play …"

Jan smiled and pushed herself up on one elbow. "It's almost like someone's been distracting you," she said with a transparently bad play at innocence.

"What?" Tony said, giving her an entirely dramatic expression. "I don't get distracted."

"Definitely not," Jan giggled, stealing a kiss that absolutely would have gone on longer if Peter hadn't started knocking on the door to inform them that they were taking  _forever_.

"Grab yourself a bagel, Petey," Tony called out. "Jarvis will help. He loves helping."

"Okay, but I know what you're  _doing_ and we gotta  _go_!"

Tony frowned and tipped his head to the side. "What is it you know we're  _doing_ , Petey?"

"You're  _kissing_ and doing  _other stuff_!"

"What's wrong with kissing?" Tony asked - just to rile him as he kept a solid grip on Jan from moving.

"It's gross!"

"And what's the other stuff?" Tony asked. "Be specific now!"

Peter started to make exaggerated gagging noises in the hallway. "I asked Logan what Jean and Scott were doing once and it's  _so gross_."

Tony paused and shared a look with Jan. "He would absolutely tell him the truth, wouldn't he?"

"Yeah, totally," Jan said, trying and failing to hide her look of pure entertainment.

"I'm gonna want details over that bagel, Petey!" Tony almost shouted.

"Ewwwwwwwww!" Petey shouted right back, and the next thing they knew, they could hear footsteps scampering away from the door as Peter quickly retreated.

"Good news," Tony said as they finally started to get up. "We ever have any of our own, we can send them to Logan for the talk. Scar 'em for life."

"Oh, I don't think we sh-" Jan paused. "I mean." Her face turned a brilliant red. "I mean….  _Hypothetically_. When this happens.  _If!_ If, I mean. I said 'if', right?"

"Of course," Tony agreed as he started getting dressed, though he was grinning to himself with his back turned to her. She absolutely said 'when' and he knew it.

"Okay, well, in that case,  _I'm_ getting the girls," Jan insisted. "Because there are some things that guys just don't  _get_ , mkay?" She tipped her chin up and tried to ignore how bright her face was as she turned away from him to get dressed. "In this… purely hypothetical future. That would be very cool. With very,  _very_ attractive kids. Who would outclass all their friends.  _Obviously_. Not that I've thought about it."

"Obviously," Tony laughed. "All we need now is coffee and then we can wake up and find out how that all happens. I'll bet it's a thriller."

Jan snorted. "Oh yeah. And poor Jarvis will think you're trying to destroy that sweet kid…"

"Nuh uh, nope! We'll make sure he tells Jarvis who his source of information is."

Jan broke down giggling at that as she finally pulled on her shirt and then bounded over to steal a kiss. "Pretty sure your reputation is against you," she teased.

It was clear he was doing his best not to break into a broad smile. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure. All evidence to the contrary," she teased, stealing another, longer kiss.

They were still partway through the kiss when once again, Peter called out to them with a long, drawn out 'eeeeeew!' that had both of them laughing before they headed down to pick on him before the Westchester team exercises later that afternoon.

The ride to Westchester was quiet - but for the razzing Peter was getting from Tony - and vice versa, and the whole subject of kissing and 'other' fell to the wayside when Peter sincerely asked  _why_ they would even  _do_ something like that.

"Because we like each other, Pete," Jan said, tucked in as close as she could so she could rub noses with Peter.

"Um … but … you know that's where babies come from, right?" Peter said then looked as if he'd stumbled on a secret. "Wait! Are you two  _trying for a_   _baby_? I'm too young to be a big brother!"

Jan stared at Peter, even as Tony started laughing. "No, it's - it's not  _just_ for trying to have babies," she spluttered. "It's - I can't believe I'm having this discussion with a Kindergartener!"

"So just …  _don't_ right now. He can quiz Logan about it if he has more concerns," Tony said, wiping tears from his eyes.

"You're enjoying this way too much," Jan accused him, though she was grinning too when she saw how much  _fun_ he was having.

"Admit it," Tony said. "It's a  _great_ mental image, isn't it? I can't even picture him trying to explain it."

Jan couldn't help but giggle at that. "I don't know; Pete's doing okay so far…" She booped Peter's nose. "Tell you what," she said, "me and Tony? We're just starting to  _date_. Can you maybe,  _maybe_ stand to  _possibly_ not be a big brother for a  _little_ while longer?" she teased, knowing he was the one who wanted the brakes anyway.

"Yes, please," Peter said nodding along.

"Okay, as long as you're sure you're okay waiting…" Jan teased. "I know you're  _so_ excited…"

"Oh man, come on. If you want a baby that bad, do the respectable thing and go  _save one._ " Peter stopped short, frowning. "Not … I mean. None of us were babies. I just meant …"

"I know," Jan said, then made sure to pepper him with kisses. "Don't worry. I love you just the way you are, okay? Not looking to replace you. You're Peter Parker! No one can do that!"

He let out a breath and sat back in his seat. "That's right. No one but me. Me and Kurt - and he's with the Professor."

Jan smiled and nodded. "So let's get you to your best friend, huh? I'm sure he misses his wall crawling buddy."

Peter finally relaxed - with only about two minutes left before they pulled up to the school, and as soon as the wheels stopped, Peter was out of the car like a shot.

Jan shook her head and then shifted to steal a kiss with Tony. "Okay. So. Crisis sort of handled?" she said, scrunching her shoulders up to her ears. "I think?"

Tony pulled her over to kiss the top of her head before they started for the doors. "Don't worry about it. He's just burning some nervous energy."

"And I think he really  _was_ worried we'd replace him," Jan said with a sigh. "He's… so much like you I'm worried you're totally going to teach him to somehow be self-conscious of his non-Harrison-Ford-ness by proxy."

"He won't have any trouble with that," Tony said with a smirk as he offered her his hand. "No heavy metal."

"Discounting your music choices," she teased.

"Which are excellent," he added, holding the door for her as they stepped inside. "Coffee? That seems to be the usual."

Jan smiled and gave his hand a squeeze as they headed into the kitchen - though they were both surprised when they got there to find that not only were they not the first but that, while Charles was sitting with Kurt talking about something or other, Logan and K were on the end of the table, tucked into each other neatly and sharing a newspaper.

And …  _clothes_ , judging by the flannel K was wearing over her shoulders that was clearly too big.

Jan glanced up at Tony again and gave his hand a little squeeze before she pulled him toward the coffee pot with a chipper, "Morning."

Charles of course, gave them both a warm smile, and Logan barely glanced their way - nothing unusual there.

"Coffee's fresh," K told her before she gave Tony a tight little smile.

"Oh good," Jan said, pouring herself and Tony a mug, though she kept glancing up at Tony to see how he was doing. He seemed to be mostly okay, but … Jan wasn't entirely sure where the lines were in this whole… thing. But commenting on the coffee - which  _was_ really good - seemed to be okay in those lines. "Did you do something different? This is great!"

"No," K said, shaking her head lightly. "Just like I usually do."

"Well, I like it," Jan promised as she took a seat on Logan's other side, though she was struggling to come up with something else to say.  _Thanks for breaking up with Tony and making my friend Logan happy instead_ seemed… weird.

"You look tired," Tony said with a little frown - his eyes were narrowed slightly, and he looked almost suspicious of the coffee.

"I was up all night," K replied before she held his gaze and took a long, slow drink from her mug. "You need better encryption."

Tony couldn't quite control his reaction, though he did manage to keep from smirking outright. "Do I now?" he asked before he took a sip from his mug and looked a little confused as he redirected himself. "What were you getting into and how'd you do it?"

"Things, and there are a few side channel options you left  _cracked_  open," K replied, which got a muted sort of smirk out of Logan.

"Which … you wouldn't know how to get into if we hadn't been so close," Tony concluded, which simply earned a smile and a shrug before K redirected the conversation toward Jan.

"Did you hear from Steve on what the big plan is today?" K asked. "It sounded like he wanted to try all girls against the boys."

Jan smirked at that, even if she was watching Tony closer. "Oh, so he wanted to get the floor wiped with him."

"Sounds like," K said with a shrug.

"Especially if we get Wanda to play… tell her she and Vision can't start working on the next set of twins until after practice…"

"Oh … absolutely," K laughed. "But she's almost got a plan in place for that." She shook her head. "Lunatic."

"And totally skipping the  _fun_ part of that equation."

"Um … they don't skip that part. Ever. But she is trying to skip the whole giant belly, labor, and delivery from the sounds of it," K added.

"She's … Scarlet Witch. Whatchugonnado?"

"She's spoiled," K said. "Spoiled  _rotten_."

Jan smirked at that. "Yes. Well. Still, I guess Steve wants to lose today."

"He likes to get humbled now and again," Logan muttered.

"Must be such a burden," Jan said airily.

"Hell if I know," he said. "I ain't quittin' just because he does."

Jan snorted at that and then tipped her head toward K. "So… shall we go get changed? You can tell me about Katie and I'll tell you Peter stories?"

K looked up at her over the rim of her cup, clearly comfortable where she was tucked in and not planning to let Tony's presence derail her fun. "We could … or we could wait until the last minute with Wanda. She hardly  _ever_ puts you in the wrong uniform if she magics it up …"

"Nuh uh," Logan said before he stole a quick kiss. "You're not letting her lose that flannel. Get outta here."

K smirked a little more crookedly as she got up - and finished her coffee quickly before taking her mug over and then meeting up with Jan again. "He's probably right. We don't really need to see Wanda and Viz discussing what color  _hair_ their little angel might have."

As the two of them left the kitchen, K joined Jan in giving Tony a little wave on the way out - though she didn't say anything further until prompted.

"So… you and Logan," Jan said at last.

"It's  _new_ ," K promised.

"Yeah, no, I wasn't-" Jan shook her head. "I'm… glad, actually. Logan drank with me. Um. A lot. While you and Tony were…. A thing."

"I'm sorry that you needed to drink through that," K said. "I didn't realize it was that upsetting."

Jan shook her head quickly. "Totally me. And… him. Anyway. Wires crossed. That's not - not what I was trying to say?" She closed one eye shut in a wince. "I meant that I'm glad you two are a thing?"

"Same here," K said, then turned toward Jan. "You and Tony are a better fit, you know."

"I really hope so," Jan breathed out.

"You are," K said in a tone that sounded final. "You're not anywhere near the train wreck I am, and you're just … so much sweeter. Better fit for him all around."

"Oh, but you - you're amazing!" Jan promised quickly, her eyes wide. "Really. You're sweet too, especially with the kids…"

"Oh, come on," K said in a lower tone.

"Hey, I know Tony, and he wouldn't fall that hard if you weren't  _good_ ," Jan insisted, one eyebrow raised.

K crossed her arms and raised one eyebrow to meet her. "I've read his files."

"Then you know what a big deal it was for him."

"I know he fell for Madame Masque."

"Did he want to have kids with her?" Jan challenged. "Because there's a difference here that I think you're missing."

K relaxed a little at that. "Okay, you've got me there."

Jan nodded to herself. "Good. Because I like you and all, but I don't think we could be friends if you were making  _Madame Masque_ comparisons." She did a full-body shiver. "Nope."

"Not to  _you_ ," K said, shaking her head with a little laugh.

"To anyone. Either of us. I mean." Jan shook her head. "She was a piece of work, okay? And I'm  _so_ much cuter than she is."

"All things considered, that's not hard," K deadpanned.

Jan snorted, though she took K's arm and slowed down as they got close to the locker room. "It… it doesn't bother you, right?" she asked. "That Tony and I are… together?"

K turned her way with a little frown. "I  _want_ him to be happy," K said honestly. "That's what I was shooting for, as convoluted as it seems."

"Yeah, but…" Jan bit her lip. "I know it doesn't go away. And I just… I  _do_ like you, and I don't want you to think-"

"I won't lie to you and say I didn't have second thoughts and all kinds of regrets. You know I did. But … I also know he's safe with you," K said with a little smirk. "And I know you'd flail anyone that tried to hurt him. Even if he's still mad, that's important to me."

"For the record, I'd do the same for Logan, but I think you'd beat me to it," Jan said with a small smile.

"Steve made you watch the footage then, huh?" K said, shaking her head.

"I just know these things," Jan said with a sniff.

"I'm not as  _worried_ with Logan," K said. "There's a lot less pressure when it comes to him."

"Oh, seriously, tell me about it," Jan said, shaking her head and rolling her eyes up to the ceiling. "Yours told Peter where  _babies_ come from and now I'm getting 'why are you doing this to me' chats with the kid."

"Well, he did  _ask_ ," K said with a shrug. "Logan won't lie to him."

"Well,  _I_ didn't ask to get interrogated," Jan said, throwing her hands up.

"He's curious, Miss Wasp, ma'am."

Jan shook her head and laughed at that. "Yeah. He and Tony are going to be a killer combo once he's old enough to get  _really_ going."

"They're going to be amazing," K replied with a fond smile.

"I can't wait to see it," Jan admitted.

"Well if you think that's insane, you should see Katie with Logan's girls," K said.

"Oh, I bet  _that's_ fun."

"There was a solid twenty minute argument when Katie and Kitty started going back and forth on how the other needed to start spelling 'Katherine' with a 'C' because they  _both_ don't want to have the same spelling."

"But neither of them even uses their name?"

"Nope," she said, shaking her head. "All the while, there's Jubilee turning one against the other…"

"Diabolical," Jan giggled.

"Good aim on all three of them, too," she said. "We had a movie night just us girls … and they were hitting the screen when the cowboys kissed their ladies surprisingly well. Milk Dud to the forehead."

"The way Katie tells it when she stays with us? She's going to take over Clint's job by the time she's ten."

"I have no doubt," K agreed. "Kitty wants to be a ninja, and Jubilee wants to be  _Dazzler_."

"Of course." Jan smiled and then tipped her head. "So.. it's okay if we sort of … keep sharing Katie, right? Because I do like that she stays with us when we come out on the weekends. Tony loves her…"

"She loves Tony, too. I won't wreck that," K promised.

"Good, because… as weird as this is? I… might end up liking this whole arrangement."

K sighed at that. "It wasn't my intention for it to get as tangled as it did," she told her. "But ...well. You know how hard it is to turn him down."

"Oh yeah. Story of my life."

"And I'm glad you don't  _want_ to turn him down," K added softly.

"Yeah. I mean-" Jan flushed. "I mean, I don't … know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do," K laughed as they got to the locker rooms. "You know  _exactly_ what I'm talking about."

"I'm sorry; I've gone temporarily deaf," Jan sang out. "It's the sound of Steve's impending  _butt-kicking_. I can't hear anything until it happens!"

"He thinks this is going to throw Tony off," K said as she started changing. "It's pretty plain to see. This is a big fat  _test_."

"Tony'll be okay," Jan said. "He's just got his heart on his sleeve. He needs time." She paused and smirked. "And… other stuff. But Peter could tell you that if you were interested in learning about the  _terrible, horrible, icky_ things."

"He asked Logan while we were kissing," K said. "I heard about the icky things.  _All_ the icky things."

Jan smirked as she got changed. "Poor kid's traumatized. And asking us to  _please wait_ before we make him a big brother, like we're planning on jumping in  _this_ soon."

"I promise you, Logan got hit for that. Hard."

Jan smirked harder. "Good. Because Kindergarten terror is a whole new thing."

"I'm very sure," K laughed, and within a few moments, the two of them were ready for the big teamwork exercise.


	61. Open Book

K didn't know when Scott was going to approach her to get himself upset again, but after the team exercise was over, she made a point to keep her usual schedule, right down to taking time in the barn to just … listen to the horses eating while Tony took a turn playing with Katie and Logan no doubt was talking with Steve. Which was when Scott came to find her.

"Have you talked to Logan about any of this?" he asked in lieu of a greeting.

"Of course not," she said, wrinkling up her nose and wrapping her arms around herself a little tighter. She  _hoped_ he didn't think the only way she got her information was through  _sex_ and coercion. If that's the path he was taking … well. This really was a waste of time.

Scott let out a breath and then sat down on one of the bales of hay. "Well. I challenged you to look into it, and you did. So I owe you a 'thank you'."

"Not accepting it."

"Fine."

"I got a little well … disappointed after our last  _chat_. So I started digging a little harder," K admitted.

"And?"

"And you need to stop taking mental health advice from someone with zero training."

"Actually, the professor-"

"Hasn't done you any favors in that aspect," she said before she crossed the barn to where her jacket was and pulled out the files. "I'll stop just short of saying that it was purposeful - but even if it was? There was nothing done to repair the damage after the fact. And yes, I had already read your entire bio long before this so don't get twitchy on me."

"I'm not following you, K," he said, even as he took the files back.

"Just … read the damn notes and the reasons for recruitment."

Scott let out a breath but looked over the notes. Nothing there was terribly  _new_ , necessarily. The professor saw a potential leader in Scott. In Logan, he saw someone that would be willing to do what the X-Men had been told not to do… Scott frowned at that. "Where did you get this?" he asked.

"From Charles' files."

"That can't-" Scott shook his head. "I've been trying for  _years_ to rein Logan in and you're telling me the whole  _point_ of recruiting him was to let him, what, be our nuclear option?"

"That's kind of how it reads," K said. "I mean … what did you think when your mentor brought home the guy that had fought the Hulk on his own?"

"I thought, hey, that's great - that will help us  _save my team_."

"Optimistic viewpoint. And has it?"

"Obviously." Scott pinched the bridge of his nose. "This - this has to be growing pains. The professor  _asked_ me to run the X-Men. He wouldn't undermine me this badly on purpose."

"I don't know his intentions," K admitted. "Just what's on paper." She gestured openly. "I could ask Logan, but I won't." K reached over to tap the folder lightly. "But … clearly he never told you any of this either. Following orders and preserving your position. If he'd said anything, I'm very sure it would have made a mess of the team."

"You know I quit, right?" Scott said dryly.

"Yep. Read that," K said. "And you know Logan refused to take up the lead spot, right? Didn't want it."

"Yeah. That's always been the case," Scott said. "Turns it down, so I get to lead another day."

"Because he doesn't  _want it._ And so you don't look bad.  _Any of you_. If the implications in his file alone ever saw the light of day on a public stage, it would sink your reputation."

Scott shook his head slowly.

"It's what I've been telling you all along, Scott. You're a team of  _heroes_. People like us - with the credentials of mercenaries and murderers only drag the rep down unless we stay  _back_."

"To hell with that," Scott shot back sharply. "I'm sick and tired of hearing how evil you both are and how you're a liability when the  _whole damn time_ either of you has been here it's like playing catch-up for the rest of us!" He was obviously peeved, and since he was sure K was leaving, he didn't hold it back, either. "You know how hard it is to live up to that? Hundred-year-old soldiers come out of the woodwork rescuing innocents like they're just picking up the newspaper and  _they_ say they're the ones dragging the rest of us down? To hell with that."

"I don't follow," K said, crossing her arms. "That's not the part anyone cares about."

"Oh, you  _don't_ want to take that bet," Scott said. "Just because  _you_ don't hear it. Apparently. Or more like you don't  _want_ to hear it. Do you know what I have to do just to live up to— _you have_   _no idea._ "

"So tell me, then."

Scott gestured toward the house with one hand. "I have worked every day of my  _life_ to build what we have here. Since the day I met the professor. Then Logan shows up and he's  _always right_. Drop him on  _any_ problem. Send him in  _anywhere_. He makes half the team redundant all on his own and he won't lead because he thinks he's  _evil_. You know how frustrating it is to hear  _you_ say it too? I'm half out of my mind trying to catch up to the level of training, the amount of  _work_ you both have put into keeping people safe and you treat it like it's  _nothing_. You know what I'd give to have  _half_ of what you do? That experience? The natural leadership? It comes to you like you were born to it and you disregard it because your worst days - which are better than half my best days - 'aren't good enough'. To hell with that! What are the rest of us, then? Kids with wooden swords playing knights?"

K drew in a slow breath and gave Scott a moment to breathe as he paced, processing all of it. "Scott - whoever told you that you  _weren't_ a natural leader - they lied to you. That's one thing. But the other stuff … and don't shake your head at me.  _Listen_. It's not nothing. But speaking for myself - and I can only guess he feels similarly - when we do what we do - yes. It's instinct, and it's just the right thing … but it's  _also_  a desperate attempt to make up for everything  _else_ that we do so easily. I don't  _know_ my own numbers. I don't  _know_ how many lives I'm responsible for destroying or snuffing out - but I know Logan's probably killed more people than you've even  _met_ in your lifetime. And you don't forget any of them. Not a one. You can only try to atone for it by helping where you can and keeping back when you can't. If it means we get torn up trying to keep  _you_ from getting torn up -" she shrugged. "-we'll heal. That part doesn't matter. You're getting experience. Every day. But no matter how much experience you get, you're just  _not_ going to catch up - and you damn well better not try because the bad goes with the good. You know that, right? Tell me you know that."

"I know what you both went through with the department," Scott said.

"You  _read_ about it. Some of it anyhow," K said. "There is plenty that went down that isn't in the files, I can assure you of that." She shook her head. "And yes, if I'm being totally honest to help you  _get it_  - some of that was a lot of making sure we didn't forget our  _place_."

"Then stop  _believing_ it," Scott said.

"I.  _Can't_."

"You can," Scott said. "Maybe not right now. Clearly. But consider for just a second what I said. Because the rest of us aren't looking at it like redemption. We're looking at the work you've both put in and we're trying to keep up. Doesn't sound like any  _place_ they'd put you in."

K thought about it for a long moment. "Would it be easier on you if he  _did_ go with Cap?"

"Yes," Scott said honestly. "But I'm not asking him to. That's not where I need him."

"Of course not," she said. "Where do you want him?"

Scott gestured broadly. "Right where he is. I thought I made that clear."

"You really didn't," she said. "But why keep him on if it's a misery for you?"

"Because I'm not going to hurt the team and send him elsewhere just because I'm tired of comparisons, K. I'm not an idiot."

K leaned back against the wall at that. "Who the  _hell_ is comparing you and why in the name of all that's holy are you listening? My notes were because you two don't get along. I sure as hell didn't intend for it to be a breakdown comparison."

"No, no, it's par for the course," Scott said.

"But that's idiotic," she said. "That's comparing apples to whiskey bottles."

"O...kay."

"The two of you are so far apart in purpose it's not even  _close_ to a comparison," K said in a flat tone. "Anyone putting the two of you in the same category clearly doesn't know what the hell they're talking about."

"I'm trying to decide if that's a compliment or not," Scott said - since, honestly, that was new.

"Why does it matter?" K asked.

"Because if both of you are going to insult me while you're on the team, I'll make Jean run it and be a stay-at-home dad," Scott said, though he had a quiet smirk on that said he was mostly teasing.

"Scott," K said in a tired tone. "If you want to play Mr. Mom, then just do it. You don't need an excuse."

"Not my life plan. Very attractive life plan, but not mine."

"Yes, because we all get to pick  _that_ out," she said, shaking her head again. "Are you sure he's insulting you?"

"K, he once ripped the top off my car and called it a convertible."

"Yeah, but was that during a fight? Or was he just trying to piss you off to blow off some steam?"

"How am I supposed to know? I don't speak 'Wolverine'."

"Were you in your skin tight pajamas?"

"No."

"Then he was in a mood and trying to share it."

"Figured that out, thanks."

"I mean in the field, Scott. Does he insult you in the field or is it a reaction to close calls?"

Scott paused and then smirked. "Yeah, the thesaurus of swear words comes out the worse the fight is."

"When you scare the crap out of him," she said. "It's easier to swear and hurl insults than to process seeing someone you care about get  _hurt_."

Scott frowned for a long time before he finally let out a breath. "So," he said at last, "will you stay on? It seems like we could use someone who can handle the rough stuff  _and_ tell me the personal stuff. Nice to have a go-between."

"I just told you everything you need to know, ever," K said.

"For now," Scott said. "But you've made more sense the last ten minutes than I've had luck with Logan the past several years. I could really use that."

"He'll probably kill me if he finds out I gave you the cheat sheet," K said. "He knows how."

"What cheat sheet?" Scott asked with a smirk.

"You're a pain in the ass, you know that? You can't tell me you won't at least THINK about it next time you two butt heads."

"No, you've given me plenty to think about," Scott said. "Just… do me a favor. Translate this conversation to something he'd understand? Because I've had this exact conversation a dozen times and …" He made a motion with his hands. "Nothing."

K let her shoulders drop and she dropped her gaze to her shoes. "I can't translate to him because he doesn't know we had this talk. You asked for why he hates you - and not only did I nuke that, but I told you how to read him."

"Still, might be useful to have someone stop  _him_ when there's a misunderstanding," Scott said with a smirk. He was  _trying_ to tease her a little, but he'd missed the window for that ad K was slipping into a totally different mindset.

"You have heard about conflict escalation, right?" K asked. "You know … when people are too emotional about things, they forget how to  _listen_  to the other side?" She narrowed her eyes and shook her head. "Not ringing any bells?"

"Just… look." Scott shook his head. "That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying it would be great if I wasn't the only one getting a better perspective, alright? Don't give him a cheat sheet, just…" He let out a little noise. "Just … I meant what I said about how it's crap you both think you're broken, alright?"

"Scott - anyone in the world that's ever met us - or  _looked in our heads_ will tell you we are. It's not a perception thing. It's a fact. We can just ... work around it most of the time. And we're allowed to screw up, okay? Just like everyone else."

"Oh God. You're just like him."

K let out a breath. "Okay. I'll just leave now. It's nice to have met you, Scott. Give my regards to … whoever the hell you think needs to know."

"Damnit, K, you can't quit because I'm trying to pay you a  _compliment_!"

"Is that what it was?" K replied, crossing her arms tighter.

"I'm trying to say you're both the same. Not a one of us here isn't broken, but I'm  _trying_ to tell you we're focusing on the rest of it - the better parts. I never accused either of you of being perfect or of not being allowed to mess up, and yet there you went. Can't take a compliment."

She leaned forward slightly. "It's a self imposed level of expectation, Scott. I am well aware of it."

"Balanced neatly with 'I am the best at what I do'."

"Not from me."

"That's … something." Scott pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look. I'm trying. Very hard. And my goal here is  _not_ to wind up pushing you away from the team, not to mention away from Logan. So what do you want from me, exactly?"

"Yeah, I'm sure I'm a big help to you right now, huh?" K asked almost sullenly. She'd heard all the talk around the house - and though most of it was playful, she'd heard a lot of the same thread when she was with Stark, too. " _Distracting_  him for you."

"That's not-" Scott let out a breath. "Believe it or not, I'd like the guy to be happy. You too, for that matter. Don't know how many times I have to say the team is family for that to sink in, but if you've read my file - and you have - you  _know_ what that means to me. I shouldn't have to say it so often."

"What do you want from me, Scott?"

"I want you to tell me what I'd need to do to get you to say 'yes'."

"You don't need to do a thing. I need to take my time for a change. Have to figure out what I should be doing - or  _not_ doing to stick around for Katie. At least until the end of the school year. I won't screw her up any worse than I already have, if I can help it. I just don't know if I can handle being around the whole group 24/7."

Scott looked like he might argue before he simply shook his head. "Right. Well. The offer for riding club is still on the floor."

"If that's what I have to do to make it easier on you, then okay."

"What?" Scott pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I said I'm here for the year for Katie, and if you need me to do the riding thing to justify my being here, you've got me for the schoolyear  _anyhow_."

Scott pursed his lips and couldn't help resting one hand on his hip as he rubbed the spot between his eyes. "Okay, let's try this again." Scott said as he shook his head. "I'm offering the riding class if  _you_ want it. Not for myself. Not to justify  _anything._ I'm offering you a spot on the team because I'd like you on it, but it's an option for  _you_."

"I assumed the class was for the kids' benefit not yours, honestly," K said dryly. "And I'm a little gunshy about either of the teams until I know what's going on with well … your favorite pain in the ass. As much as I know you  _cherish_ hearing it."

"Uh-huh."

K took a little step back looking more skittish and small than Scott was used to seeing and when she spoke again her voice was a lot quieter. "If this blows up like it did with Stark, then there's no way in hell I'm sticking around for anyone," K said. "That's the long and short of it."

"So I got on a soap box for …"

"You like your soapbox. You look good on your soapbox," K said.

Scott let out a disbelieving laugh and shook his head. "For the record," he said, "if you'd started out by saying you were sticking around and giving Logan a trial period? I would have said outright I was fine with that."

She cringed and shook her head. "Yeah, but then you wouldn't have learned anything at all."

"And you?"

"Needed to see how you handled it."

"And what's your verdict - other than that I look good," he clarified.

K blinked at him a few times. "Oh. Was I supposed to have something to share? A critique? No. You don't really want that."

"Yeah, the other day when we tried this, I thought you came in to talk up your boyfriend and his superiority. This'll be better."

"For the record, Scott, I don't play favorites. If you've ever questioned that. I'm actually  _generally_ a lot harder on the guys I'm involved with than I am to everyone else."

"Just let me have it, K. I'd rather learn how  _not_ to recruit."

"You're a great leader, Scott - but I'll just stop now. If this is the only time we talk one on one, I don't want to leave too much of a bad taste."

Scott raised an eyebrow at that. "Hey. You're the one that pointed out the hundred year experience gap and then won't impart wisdom. I'm just the twenty-something kid."

K took a deep breath and held it for a moment, weighing everything out. "Okay. You asked for it." She blew out a sigh and took a moment to try and reorder her thoughts. "You shut down when you think it's a personal hit. You did the same thing the other day. It was like watching a lightswitch go off. I don't know  _how_ to tell you some of that stuff when I know you're not ready to hear it - or that you'd do better to figure it out yourself."

"Thanks, K. That definitely leaves me feeling confident in thinking you don't see me as a kid."

"It should," she said. "Both Steve and Tony are the same way."

"Spill the damn beans already, K."

She couldn't help but smile at him, though it was obvious she really didn't want to say anything to him. "I just told you you're  _more_ like Captain America." When he gave her a dry look, she blew out another breath. "I've found that you have a lot hotter temper than you let on - you just bottle it up until it explodes - which makes it harder for people to stick close enough to figure out what you want. But it's just a sign of someone who cares a lot more than they want to  _show_. Just frikkin' show it. You don't trust your judgement. You hold yourself up to an impossible standard and are disappointed when those around you don't meet those silent expectations. You second guess yourself  _constantly_. Stop that."

"Okay, well, first of all, I  _do_ care. I just don't…"

" _Show_. It."

"Second of all, I'm just trying not to screw anything up. You can relate, right?"

"Everyone knows you have a jillion plans in place. Try having faith in your own leadership and you won't have the doubt nearly as badly. All it takes is to hold your head high, pick your best option and run with it. If it doesn't work they all know you have more things lined up in your head... If the sweet little blue elf can have faith that the world will work out right, you can trust your damn instincts."

"I don't know that I'm wired that way, but I'll consider it," Scott said. "This doesn't exactly tell me what  _you_ needed to know about me."

" _More_ , Scott. I needed to know more than the files held. I needed to see for myself how you react when you don't like the answers to questions - and how you shut down on people if you think it's an attack on you. It never was, by the way."

"Well, I promise the rest of the team isn't a second-guessing emotional mess, if that helps."

"Everyone second guesses. Sometimes. I know that when Steve gets to where he's second guessing himself, it's a clear thing to watch. You can see him kicking himself; he drops his shoulders and his focus goes to his boots for a moment. You can almost hear him rallying before he snaps back to Mr. Soldier and sets his jaw. And with him, after it's over - even if he's won - he has a moment where I'm very sure he's running through it again on the way back. Watch him. It's crystal clear. The regret - the what ifs … it's on his face plain as day. Everyone does it now and again. It's not always a bad thing. Tony …" She held her breath for a moment and gave him an almost rueful smile. "Tony goes into a fully actualized panic, only … unless you can smell it, the only tip off you get is that his voice constricts slightly and stays that way until it works out. He does the angry shout in the heat of panic, too. Everyone has to work on something, okay?"

"Yeah. I know." Scott tipped his head to the side and watched her for a moment, no longer teasing  _at all_. "That's why I asked."

"Logan …" K said, watching Scott carefully. "Logan holds his breath. You can tell when the growling stops and he gets more frantic to end it.. He takes bigger risks on himself, throws himself at it head first … "

Scott almost smirked but schooled it at the last second. "You sure you don't want to join the team? Someone who can read people like you can…it isn't all about fighting, you know. We do have to deal with politicians and other things like that."

"I told you, Scott, I'm watching to see where it goes. I still don't know that I belong anywhere near a group like this."

"Had to make the offer," Scott said with a shrug. "Just so you didn't think I  _only_ wanted you around for Logan."

"Seeing as you were asking me to join up while I was with Tony, I really didn't look at it that way, even if others might."

"Good." Scott let out a breath. "Take your time. You can stay here as long as you like. And if things don't work out with Logan, I'm not opposed to blasting him into another county for you."

"He's been ridiculously kind and patient. Don't even think about it," K said. "Besides, if history's any indicator, I'd be the one stomping him."

"Still leaving the offer out there," Scott said with a smirk.

"Sure you wouldn't want to blast me if I wreck him?"

Scott shrugged. "Depends on the wreckage, I guess."

"Hypothetically speaking … if it was equal to Tony… for instance."

"Now, that one was actually reasonable," Scott said. "The aftermath, anyhow. The reasoning was hard to follow … still a bad breakup, but not evil. Now, cheating, on the other hand, I  _would_  blast you."

"I don't cheat," she said, shaking her head.

"This is hypothetical," Scott defended. "And I don't hit girls for anything but the best reasons."

"Then I'd clearly be possessed or something," she said. "Again."

"Good to know." Scott smirked and headed for the barn door. "I'll set up that riding club," he said over his shoulder. "And we can just renew it every semester you decide to stay."


	62. Follow Through

When K found Logan not long after her talk with Scott, she didn't even bother taking her boots off before she took a few quick steps his way and then flat out tackled him backward onto her bed. Logan had of course, been sure to 'catch' her before they fell back, and as soon as she had her arms part way around him, she simply nestled in with one leg thrown over his waist as she nuzzled into his neck.

"Your best friend is an idiot," K almost purred out before she shifted to kiss his jaw, pause as she thought about it for a moment and then very slowly started working her way down his jawline with feather light kisses.

"Not sure I know who you're talkin' about," Logan replied, though when his hand rested at the top of her jeans for a moment, he paused to peek over her shoulder, then yanked the work gloves out of her back pocket. "Who's my best friend today?"

"Scott."

"Oh. I coulda told you he was a piece o' work," Logan rumbled. When he tried to pull her over him so he could kiss her better though, she held tight and took a better grip on him.

"You're both a piece of work but … I'm a little irritated that your nicknames are so spot on."

"Somethin'  _else_ I coulda told ya."

K smirked to herself, her eyes closed for a moment longer before she finally looked up at him. "You have no idea with him … he's like a little self imposed Atlas, and all the while … he's trying to keep up with  _you_."

Logan frowned at that, his brows drawing together as he shifted to look her in the face. "The hell're you talkin' about?"

K let out a long sigh and then picked her head up long enough to kiss the look of confusion off of him. "Have you read Scott's file?" When Logan frowned deeper at her she rested one hand on the center of his chest. "I mean  _all_ of it. Not just the stuff that you're interested in,  _all_ of it. His background, his family history, psychological profile-"

"I don't like to know most of that crap unless I'm plannin' to take someone down," Logan said, cutting across her before his serious look only deepened. "What the hell are you doin' lookin' into all that?"

She smirked at the knee-jerk protective reaction, wondering how far out the odds were that Scott would  _ever_ realize exactly how protective Logan was of him. "Oh, obviously I'm plotting your downfall. All of you," she said in a perfectly serious tone before she smirked and he pulled her into a kiss. When it ended though, she knew she needed to continue. "Everything you need to know about how he processes things is in that file."

"I've been workin' with him for a while now, sweetheart, I don't need a file to tell me how he thinks."

"You do if you can't see how much he wants your approval."

There was a moment where Logan simply stared at her in disbelief before he broke out laughing, and though she could have been insulted, K simply waited for him to get it out of his system with a knowing smirk in place. "He does, you know," she insisted. "He wants to meet up to your level, and he's still hung up on how you two  _started_ off."

"He just don't like me, honey. That's all there is to it," Logan said, smiling crookedly at her, and still in a good mood from the solid laugh he'd gotten. "Not like I didn't earn it, but it ain't never gonna change either."

K sat up as far as he'd let her move away from him, only to rest both hands on his chest. "You're really going to have to just … tell me what it's like to be that wrong."

"I wouldn't know," Logan countered, though he frowned lightly when she refused to let him pull her tight to him again, bracing herself against his chest. "Oh, come on. Is this your way of tellin' me you'd rather join up with  _Cap_?" His expression and the manner in which he said Steve's nickname made it abundantly clear it wasn't  _Steve_ that Logan thought she wanted to stay close to.

"I haven't said I wanted to join up with anyone," K replied. "But if you're going to be a child about it, then I won't play with anyone."

"That's a waste of your talent and you know it."

"No, a waste of my talent is allowing myself to be in the middle of a tug of war with a pair of toddlers that both want me on their side for dodgeball," K shot back before she poked him in the center of his chest. "Toddler one …"

"At least your ranking's on par."

K half-closed one eye and tipped her chin up so she could look down her nose at him, though the overly confident expression on his face was more than a little hard to ignore. "Would you do me a favor and just … take it easy on Scott,  _please_."

"Only if you lean more to my dodgeball team."

"Oh, shut up."

"Not sayin' you can't play on both. Just … lean more to mine."

"You don't think living here is enough?"

"No. Not even close."

She let out a breath at that and finally relaxed her arms enough to let him pull her back into a more tucked in position. "At least you're direct about it."

"No. Direct would be tellin' you that we need to go to Japan with the girls," Logan said before he raised an eyebrow her way and simply smirked until K met his gaze. "By the way … we need to go to Japan with the girls."

"And Kurt," K added. "He needs to explore a little."

Logan nodded at that. "He sure does. But … is your  _ex_ gonna take an issue with us takin' your lil' Katie for the weekend?"

"Only if he's being jealous," K decided. "And … I will only bring it up if you can take it easy. On. Scott."

"That's only gonna happen if you decide to join up. If you're not on the team, I'm not gonna handle him with kid gloves just to make you feel better on a whim," Logan countered. "If you join up or not, I still gotta deal with the guy and if I ain't got good incentive, I'm gonna keep entertainin' myself to keep from killin' him."

K drew in a deep breath and then nodded her head, finally. "I'm not going to join until I get a chance to talk to your professor."

"Still don't trust a telepath."

"I haven't been given a reason to yet," K replied. "So, no. I do not." She'd been expecting him to bristle at her distrust of Xavier, but instead, he wrapped her up that much more warmly and let out a sigh as he nestled his nose into her hair and began kissing her neck.

"Good," he said with a nod. "Smart to keep up some boundaries until you know if you wanna stay."

In spite of the fact that she'd more or less told Scott that much … hearing it from Logan had K frowning enough that as soon as he'd settled out a little, she took it as a personal challenge and kissed the sense out of him. There was still plenty of time to talk to Charles … and she was pretty sure that her best opportunity would be when the team had finished their next exercise. All she'd have to do would be to corner Charles when the team split off to get cleaned up and changed.

But before K could get anywhere near Charles, Katie almost ran into her, grinning and giggling. When she saw her mom though, she let out a delighted sort of laugh and skipped over, dragging her bear behind her before she threw her arms around K's leg and gave her a hug. "Hi, mom! Where you been? Kissin' Logan? Is that it? You were kissin' Logan?"

"A little bit, yeah," K admitted, wrapping Katie up as much as she could while she was wrapped around her leg - high.

"Oh,  _good_ ," Katie said, grinning up at her. "You're  _always_ a little happier when you been kissin' him. Even more happier than when you was kissin' Tony."

K smiled a little warmer at that. The girl was nothing if not observant. "Yes, I know," K agreed before she let out a little growl and managed to snag Katie and toss her up into the air - squealing and laughing until K caught her and started snuggling and tickling and growling - pretending she was going to eat her as Katie pretended to struggle and laughed until she had tears in her eyes. When K finally let her down and onto her own feet again, she crouched down so she was on a better level with her. "Would you want to spend some time with Logan and the girls - just us and them?"

Katie's eyes widened and she nodded seriously for an overly long time, though as she began to slow down, her little features twisted into a frown. "It's not forever, though, right? Because I can't leave Kurt by hisself forever."

"We were talking about taking him with too," K said. "It would be like a little vacation. We hope."

Katie brightened right back up at that. "Is there a reason  _whyyyyyyyyy_ you wanna go on a vacation with him?"

K frowned at her and tapped the end of her nose with one finger then kissed her nose. "Who's been filling your head up, little one?"

"Maaa-ybe  _Jan_ , and maaaaa-ybe  _Jean_ , and maaaaa-ybe cuz my Clint pointed out how red in the cheeks his Nat gets when anyone talks 'bout you an' Logan kissin' ... "

K tipped her chin up so that now she was actually looking up at Katie. "What do  _you_ think it means if we want to go on vacation?"

"Um … I … I shouldn't say," Katie said, shrugging her shoulders up to her ears and swaying lightly as she tried not to look K in the face.

"Why?" K asked, frowning herself now, and wondering what Clint's Nat might have told her that had Katie looking so suddenly shy. Katie shook her head 'no' and a moment later, K reached over to pull her into another warm hug. "Katie-girl, you can tell me anything. You know that right? I won't get mad. Not at you. Ever."

K thought she was getting through until Katie squeezed her tighter and sniffled. "But … I don't  _want_ you to be sad again. And if everyone gets too … I don't want you to be sad again."

K closed her eyes and snuggled Katie that much closer. "I don't think I'm going to be sad again," K told her quietly. "It's … everything is different than when I was …. It's just different. And complicated,  _stupid_ grown up stuff." K sighed. "I won't let you be in the middle of anything like that again. And … I don't think Logan would let you be anywhere near that kind of sadness either."

"Because he  _loves me_ ," Katie said, stepping back from the hug. "An' Jub'lee said that when he's all grumpy an' tryin' to act like he doesn't like anyone it's cause he doesn't wanna  _admit_ how much he  _loves us._ "

"I don't think I've seen him act like that," K said with a smirk.

"No, cause he  _loves_ loves you. It's different."

K smiled as she stood up and kissed Kate's head. "Alright. Well. I need to go talk to Mister Professor Charlie. Have you seen him?"

"Uh-huh!" Katie declared, swishing her teddybear back and forth again. "I was just in his office with him helpin' him with his 'pointments." She put her hands on her hips and did her best to strike a stern pose. " _Do you have a 'pointment, Mom_?"

"Nope. I'm just gonna crash in there and shake him up. Why don't  _you_ ," K paused to touch the end of her nose again. " go find Kurt and play your German game?"

"Are we gonna go to  _Germany_?" Katie asked wide-eyed, bouncing in place.

"I don't know that we're going  _anywhere_ yet, I need to talk to Mister professor first," K said.

"Oh. Okay. Maybe Kurt and me can just go play outside for a little bit then." With that, Katie turned in a whirl of pigtails and broke into a run with a shouted 'See you later!' over her shoulder.

K let out a breath and continued on to Charles' office, where she wasn't exactly surprised to find him with company. He almost  _always_ had company and K wondered if he wasn't waiting for her to corner him for a talk … or worse. She'd made no effort to hide the fact that she wasn't exactly friendly with the idea of telepaths, and so far, Charles and Jean hadn't really held it against her - all things considered, but … it didn't make her any less uneasy walking into that office with both Charles and Jean sitting there with tea acting as if they'd only been waiting for her to show up.

K knocked on the door frame, already more than a little on edge, even when both telepaths smiled up at her and looked honestly surprised to see her there. K did not buy it … not from Charles anyhow, but … "Please, come in," Charles said in that same upbeat tone he always used. "Join us, if you have time. We were just getting into a good cup of tea."

K couldn't help but almost sneer at the scent as she shook her head. "No thank you," K said, though she did take the seat nearby. "I've had too much Earl Grey in my lifetime, I think."

"Erik was still …"

"Every afternoon at two," K said, cutting him off and trying to save them a bit of time. "But I'm not here to talk about tea."

"No, I'm sure you're not. Perhaps you'd like to tell me what you were doing in my personal files?" Charles' tone was still friendly, but it was clear he didn't trust her any more than she trusted him at this point. "After all we've done-"

"You can stop right there if that's your buy line," K said, holding up one hand. "If you want full disclosure from me, you need to start with it yourself. And maybe open with telling Scott  _why_ you hid your motives for picking up Logan when and from whom you did."

"I don't need to explain myself to you," Charles replied with a bit of heat, only to be surprised when K gently shook her head.

"No. You don't. I'm not asking you to. Not to me, anyhow. I already know I'd be redundant to your program. Which is why you haven't asked me to stay, even if Scott has," K said. "I know you'd prefer if I went to the Avengers because it might just free up Logan to just stay here full time, and I know out of everyone here … you were the one that was  _most_ disappointed when Tony and I split. Even if it was in both of our best interests."

"K," Jean started out. "That's just not …"

"I know you spent a lot of time with Erik," Charles said when Jean seemed to be at a loss for words. "And I know he instilled in you a deep distrust of my dream and all it stands for -"

"This isn't that," K said calmly. "This is the bird thing." When both Jean and Charles looked confused, K took a patient breath and tried to explain further. "The old saying rings true, even if you wish it didn't. 'Birds of a feather will flock together.' Now … if you want to admit it or not, that's your business. I'm no more trained in psychology than you are, but I fall short of pretending that I can solve their problems. You and Erik were friends for  _decades_  for a reason. It wasn't common philosophy, that's for sure, so it had to be deeper than that. You two - you're more the same than you like to admit."

"K, that's simply not true," Charles said, sounding both shocked and trying to convince her of such.

"From where I stand it  _is_ ," K said. "But don't worry. I'm not taking Scott up on his offer. I'm not joining anything, and I'm not trying to screw up your team in any way."

"Let me try to explain to you then," Charles said, looking more distressed, but K held up a hand as she got to her feet.

"I don't need to know," she said. "It's not my business." K gave him a little smile. "I'm not on the team, and you don't want me there. I'm not arguing it. But … I am going to be stepping out with Logan soon. I need to inform Tony first … and Logan .. may want to bring Kurt with the girls. This was just a heads up."

"K, I know Scott wants to see you stay and join the team," Jean said. "Could you at least give us a chance before you say no? There  _is_ more to the story than you know in the files."

"Then you know," K asked, turning toward Jean and looking honestly surprised.

"Not all of it, no, but I read the files you gave Scott," Jean said. "And I  _know_ there's more to it. I know Charles too well to be able to just write him off."

"You're only giving him time to come up with what seems reasonable," K replied.

"No, I'm counting on you to dig up the rest if he seems like he's lying about it," Jean said, though K didn't like the expression Charles was wearing - almost proud of Jean's distrust of  _him_.

K frowned and looked between the two of them suspiciously. "If I step out of this room and find out that this whole conversation was in my head and I'm just … standing alone somewhere, I will consider that a declaration of war."

"That's ... " Jean let out a sigh. "We don't do that to our own people."

"And I'm not in that group." K gave them both a look and then turned to leave. "That talk … you should have it with Scott, not me," she called over her shoulder. "I have to make some arrangements."


	63. Negotiations

"Mr. Stark," K started out, but Tony immediately held up both hands and started to protest, which only had her tipping her head and frowning at him the more fuss he made.

"Nuh-uh, nope; you're not allowed to call me that," Tony said, walking to the other side of his desk.

"What the hell do you want me to call you, then?" she asked, one hand on her hip as she squared up with him.

"What?"

"What do you want me to call you if you don't want me calling you by your  _name_?" K said, annunciating every syllable perfectly clearly.

Tony took just a moment to pause and narrow his eyes slightly as he tipped his chin up. "That … sounds like a trick question."

"Tony."

"That'll do," he decided, leaving K frowning deeper at his ridiculousness.

"Whatever," she breathed out before she took a few steps closer. "I didn't want to do this over the phone. It seemed too … cold. Even considering how the past month or so has gone."

Tony frowned and turned her way to give her his full attention. "What's going on?"

"Just trying to keep you in the loop with Katie," K said, doing her best to look open and non-threatening with him. But the look of alarm was clear he was wearing was clear- as was the spike in his scent that went with it.

"You're  _taking her_?" he said, looking both stunned and upset. "What happened to sticking around? Or 'Tony, you can keep her on the weekends so she can still  _see_ you'? Huh? What about all that?"

K stared at him for a moment before she couldn't help but smile at his panicked reaction. Her shoulders relaxed, and her smile warmed up a little. "Tony … we're not disappearing. We're going on a vacation. It's going to take longer than a few days - and I didn't want you to be looking for her if she was gone with me."

Tony looked visibly relieved - he really wasn't good at hiding his emotions. At all. But the relief only lasted for so long. "This … wouldn't have anything to do with the notice we got from Wolverine saying he'd be out of touch for a few weeks, would it?"

"Yes, Tony. We're going with him."

"Getting serious then, are you?" he asked as he sat on the edge of his desk with the tiniest of frowns tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Well, seeing as polygamy is illegal, stupid, and a guaranteed death wish for you …  _yes_. I'm moving on, and you have too. Come on, admit it to me at least.  _You're in love with Jan_. And that's beautiful! You two were dating before I started up with Logan, and you haven't looked back. Not really."

"That's actually not entirely true," Tony said, though he let out a breath and, for the first time since the split, looked somewhat relaxed around her. "The looking back part. I have."

"Less and less the more you fall into it with the Fabulous Wasp …" K teased then hopped up to sit on his desk next to him. "She's really cute, Tony."

He drew in a quick breath and then let it out in a laugh. "I can't even argue."

"Nope. Never could with me. Learn to live with that." She let out a little breath and turned his way. "You know … I didn't think we'd be sharing a kid, Tony."

"Not like  _this_ anyhow," Tony said, tipping his head.

She held his gaze for a moment and then reached over to rest her hand on his arm affectionately. "Are you going to guilt trip me every time I see you like this?"

"Depends on if you have a reason to feel guilty," Tony shot back before he smirked crookedly and let it stretch into a smile. "No. Last time. Promise."

K gave his arm a squeeze then hopped off his desk and turned to face him. "You can have her for longer when we get back if you're having withdrawals."

"We'll see," Tony said, still smiling at her. "She's yours, after all. I just get to be fun Uncle Tony." She gave him a smile before she turned on her toes and started toward the door. "You gonna join my team? I think I've proven I can both play nice  _and_ keep it in my pants."

"It wasn't going to get you anywhere if you tried to take it out of your pants," K replied over her shoulder. "And … I'll … consider it."

Tony visibly paused at that. "Really? What? X-Men screw something up?"

"Maybe," K admitted. "I'll keep you in the loop on what's going on one way or the other."

"Good. Just remember - we have the established rep of turning people around. People love us. And your girl Wanda has officially re-joined the team, too."

"I don't need a fan club, Mr. Stark."

"That's too bad. You have one anyhow." When she only spared him a glance, he continued, "Have fun in Japan!" Which, of course, only got a bigger smile out of K, since she knew Logan hadn't told the Avengers  _where_ he was going.

"Gossipy kids," she breathed out, sure that they were excited if they'd told Tony about the trip.

* * *

It was definitely helpful to Scott when he wanted to talk to Charles and some of the kids were gone. Katie wasn't there to demand 'pointments, and Kurt wasn't eavesdropping on his new dad's various projects.

Jean was playing outside with their kids, so it was relatively quiet, though Scott could feel her brushing his mind and knew that she was watching with intense interest.

She wanted to hear what Charles had to say just as much as he did. But for once, she was staying hands off. And all she would say when Scott brought it up was, "I think this is something you need to do for yourself."

Which was easy enough for her to  _say_.  _She'd_ gotten along  _fine_ with Logan from the start.

Still, the things K had said were banging around in Scott's head - and he  _knew_ the professor was aware of it. So there was no point in not confronting it.

He wasn't surprised to find that the professor was waiting for him, sitting calmly with his tea as he gestured for Scott to join him. "Please, sit down."

Scott did so, feeling a little wary and guarded. The professor had saved his life in more ways than one, more times than he could count, and if Scott was honest, he didn't  _like_ feeling as if he had to question Charles like this. He would have preferred to continue on  _trusting_ the man who had saved him.

But it was for exactly that reason he couldn't leave it alone.

There was a long beat of silence, in which Charles simply waited for Scott, his expression giving nothing away before, finally, Scott broke the ice, "I don't think it's right to hold some of us to other standards than the rest." When Charles only raised an eyebrow, Scott continued, "I actually  _believe_ that anyone who wants to change  _can_ change. I actually  _believe_ in peaceful coexistence and in doing  _better_ than Magneto or the weapons programs or anyone else that wants to use mutants." He felt his hands clench in fists as he kept going. "So I need you to tell me why your files indicate that you brought Logan in to break all these rules and  _didn't tell me_."

"Scott," Charles started out carefully. "I believe in all of it just as strongly as you do. But … I also knew that there would come a time where we would be attacked in ways that you and I had never been forced to defend against. And yes … I did the things that I did - at that time - as a failsafe, knowing that some minds simply cannot be changed without destroying them completely."

"Like Magneto's," Scott said flatly.

Charles wasn't smiling in the least as he started to nod his head. "I never wanted things to go that far. You know I didn't. I tried, Scott … for decades I tried to get him to find another path … and I would have let it go had he not been torturing the very people he'd sworn to protect."

Scott leaned forward, the lines tight on his face. "Then you can see what it looks like from here, professor. You gave Erik every chance in the world, but from the start, with Logan? You used him as a failsafe. That's a play out of Magneto's playbook, professor. Not ours."

Charles let out a weary sigh as he dropped his gaze for a moment. "It's not something I'm proud of. And though that  _was_ the intention to start with, I have tried to treat Logan in a manner that would again, I think shows that minds can change on their own when they're shown a better path."

"You wanted him to be a weapon. Like Sabretooth." Scott shook his head and crossed his arms. "I know he was your first choice. Thank  _God_ you didn't go with that pick."

"At the time, I didn't know all of Victor Creed's faults," Charles said. "They'd worked on the same team - the reports showed that Creed was more likely to follow the orders-"

"Because Wolverine actually had a  _conscience_ ," Scott said low. "But it doesn't really matter, does it?" He began leaning forward again. "The truth is, you told me and my team one thing and then brought in a  _person_ to use as a weapon. Again without telling us anything."

"We haven't had to take that route, Scott," Charles defended.

"No, but that doesn't excuse it, and it doesn't make up for the fallout." Scott gestured with one hand. "I've always trusted you, professor. I've always thought you were on my side. I've tried to live up to your dream. If you can't trust me enough not to  _undermine_ me, I don't know what to do."

"It was never my intention to undermine you, Scott. It was my intention to keep the dream going when it looked darkest. I didn't expect the two of you to clash quite as much as you did - and look at how well you've both learned to work with each other in spite of it." Charles shook his head as he watched Scott. "A large part of that was  _your_ work and what  _you_ impressed on everyone in the team, Logan included. I can't change what I thought at the time. I can only be grateful that we haven't needed to use that desperate of an option."

"I want you to take it off the table," Scott said flatly. "We're not going to have a designated assassin. If things get that bad, the  _team_ can make that decision. But we're not going to have an official  _scapegoat_."

"I didn't think I needed to make that official, Scott. That hasn't been my thinking with him for quite some time."

"Then you don't see what I do," Scott said. "Because I've been thinking about it, and a lot more makes sense now. He's  _still_ approaching things as if he'll be that nuclear option."

"I hate to tell you this, Scott, but that  _is_ a hard wired response from him."

"Then don't  _encourage_ it," Scott argued. "You can't play chess with people!"

"I thought that was part of what you were angry about before - all the chances I've given him to change his outlook that he didn't take advantage of."

Scott made a sharp motion. "I didn't know you two were operating under different  _rules_ than I was," he said. He paused. "And that has to stop. The secrets. You can't keep things from us."

Charles watched him for a long moment, and if he'd reached out to brush Scott's mind - it wasn't obvious when he did so. "Of course," he said finally. "So much has changed from when I found him …. Of course, the approach is no longer necessary."

"Then tell him that," Scott said. "And promise me - nothing like this is going to happen again." He shook his head. "I still believe in what you taught me. I do. And I want to lead the X-Men the way you  _taught_ us."

"And it's your deep belief in it all that has changed Logan's mind about it as well," Charles said. "So of course. When he returns, I'll tell him that is no longer an option."

"Good." Scott paused for a long time as he ordered his thoughts. "I need you to promise - no more secrets, no more chess games. I don't want my kids  _or yours_ to grow up not being able to trust you."

"No more secrets," Charles agreed. "And I have always tried not to use people as  _chess pieces_."

"To be honest, professor? I'm having a hard time believing that right now."

"I don't know how to prove it to you," Charles replied. "And I understand your reluctance, of course."

Scott held his gaze for a long time before he finally let his shoulders drop. "Right. I just…" He shrugged. "Kurt's a good kid. And he thinks the world of you. And it's not just about me."

"And I plan to do everything in my power to live up to his estimation of me, Scott."

"Good," Scott said again. "Because it's this kind of thing that's keeping us from recruiting."

"I think you've done well recruiting," Charles replied.

" _I_ have," Scott said. "But I can't do it for people like K - people who know what I've just told you. I can't ask them to believe the dream if they know you're willing to use people or keep them in the dark."

Charles had clearly done his best not to react as he reordered his thoughts. "That … is a specific case," he said carefully. "And I don't believe that any of Erik's closest followers are left to make that point valid again."

"You're assuming no one else will be smart enough to see that pattern," Scott said. "I didn't see it because I didn't want to think you'd do that. But outsiders? You think you've covered your tracks  _that_ well?"

For a moment, Charles considered lying, but in light of the way this conversation was going … "Yes, I think I have," Charles admitted. "The only way she knew what she did was to break into my personal files. Which, I hate to admit,  _she's_ put into a more advanced system that I can't break into."

Scott held his gaze for a long time. "I want her on my team," he said at last, frankly. "And I want to trust you to back me up. We're not at war anymore; I need to know you're going to stand with me."

"I will," Charles said. "But she's going to be hard to convince."

"I know," Scott said. "But maybe she'll believe  _me"_

"It's not just that she doesn't believe me, Scott. You're dealing with someone with a much less rosy outlook than Logan has on how the world works." He leaned forward slightly. "She distrusts Captain America, Scott."

"She doesn't trust anyone. I know. But she has to start somewhere, and if she can't find peace of mind at our school - our  _sanctuary_  - then we're doing something wrong."

At that, Charles let out a breath and simply began to nod. "You know you have my backing."

"Thanks." Scott got to his feet and paused. "For what it's worth… that  _does_ still mean something to me."

"You have always been my finest student, Scott," Charles said.

"Had a good teacher," Scott said, almost automatically, before he slipped out the door.

* * *

As for Logan and K … the two little ferals had taken on the monumental task of entertaining four kids all on their own … and Kurt was in heaven with all the little girls around him.

Their trip had started out in Tokyo and though Logan made a point to take them to all the most interesting places in the city - and let the kids get overly excited about all the sights and sounds - it wasn't too long before Kitty was tugging at his sleeve. "When do we go to the beach again?" Kitty asked with a perfectly wide-eyed expression. "I wanna see Moshii."

"Oooh, I've heard all about Moshii," Kurt agreed, nodding wisely. "And I think Kitty's right. We need to go see Moshii."

It only took all of thirty seconds before the whole group of kids was enthusiastically chanting 'Moshii' over and over again, and of course, they wouldn't stop until Logan held up a hand and made the call. And then, the whole group of kids were grinning back and forth excitedly - though none was so easy to spot for what was really happening than Kurt, whose tail was swaying behind him betraying his amusement.

"What are you troublemakers going to do if you can't get him to take you to see Moshii?" K asked, crouching to be closer to their level.

"Then we'll have to find another way for you to put a kimono on," Kitty said with an unashamed grin. "He really  _liked_ it when you were wearing that. It was super pretty."

K stared at her for a moment, but before she could even begin to scold her, Kurt was agreeing. "I think you all would be lovely."

"You're a  _flirt_ ," Jubilee accused, pointing a finger his way. The little ones started to go back and forth, and K wrapped Katie up in a hug from behind and pulled her closer to kiss her cheek from over her shoulder.

"What do you think, sunshine? Are they crazy?"

"Uh-huh," Katie said, nodding seriously. "I like it!"

"You would," K said, though it wasn't long before Logan turned back to the excited little group of kids.

"She's gettin' the house ready," Logan said, then drew in a deep breath as he rested his hands in his back pockets.

"What about the kimonos?" Kitty asked, bouncing on her toes. "Do we all get kimonos?"

Logan let out a breath and looked half-apologetic to K for a moment. "Moshii prefers everyone dress traditional in the house, but you don't  _have_ to."

"Who am I to argue with Moshii?" K asked.

"You should see how she'd wake K up in the morning!" Kitty said. "She wasn't afraid of her  _at all_."

Logan frowned as he watched K for a moment, but K cut him off before he could speak. "She has a certain way she expects the ladies to act," K said. "And I am not going to argue with her."

"We still got a day or so to kill before we go see her," Logan said, smirking a little to himself. "She needs some time to gather up the extra mats."

"Is there going to be room for everyone?" K asked as they started toward the noodle cart that Jubilee had been eyeing all afternoon.

"Sure," Logan said with a nod. "If nothin' else, I'll sleep on the couch again." He gave her a little smile. "Like you said. She's got a certain way she expects the ladies to act. I'm not gonna dishonor that."

"So what … you're going to be okay with me taking your bed again?"

"If you wanna keep up the whole propriety thing for Moshii," Logan said with a smirk.

"What's that  _mean_?" Katie said with wide eyes.

"I don't even know, little darlin'," Logan replied, smirking at her - but that only had Katie making a face at him before she bounced over to Kitty and Jubilee. Logan looked up at K, his smirk stretching out more crookedly. "You ready to go back to the island?"

"I think I'd like that," K agreed before he took her hand and the little group of them headed off to pick up a few things before they left the major sights behind.


	64. Accepting Roles

Moshii was suspicious at first when the little group showed up at Logan's hidden house near Okinawa, but on seeing that it was in fact K back for more time with Logan …  _with_ the little girl that had been there before - in addition to so many other little ones, she couldn't help but give K a knowing look as she ushered her off to make her clean up and get dressed  _properly_.

K had known it was coming, but it was just that much more entertaining when she came out after listening to the little giggles from the kids in the living room. Kurt's eyes went wide, and Katie positively squealed before she rushed over and reached out to touch the front of the kimono K was wearing with one finger at first. The silk on the kimono itself looked almost water colored as the purple at the bottom shifted and mixed with pinks finally fading to a pink-tinged white at K's shoulders. The obi was black with touches of metallic gold shining up - and like before, Logan simply watched her as the little girls went from oohing and aahing the silk robes to rushing Moshii begging to be next.

Katie was, of course, the loudest, most persistent of the group, and Moshii smiled demurely as she ushered Katie into the next room to get her situated as well.

Kitty took one look at the two of them disappearing and took Jubilee's hand. "C'mon, I know what we gotta do to get ready for her. Then when she's all done with Katie, we'll be cleaned up and ready to go."

Jubilee, of course, grinned widely and followed Kitty without the tiniest of arguments, though that really just left Logan and K alone … or mostly alone, and Kurt was a quick enough study that when he realized how Logan was watching K … he simply slipped into the next room to see if Logan was going to take advantage of the break in little kids watching and start with the kisses already.

But if he was expecting a lot of conversation like what went on with the other adults, he was gonig to be disappointed as the two ferals simply took a few moments to share a few glances - a smile here and there, and then before Kurt could begin to understand what had transpired wordlessly, Logan made his move.

Which … was honestly just what they needed. The kiss wasn't a short one by any stretch of the imagination, and by the time Moshii had finished with the little girls … all three of them … Logan and K had gotten a handle on themselves. Mostly.

"Mom! Mom! Lookit! Moshii got me  _purples!_ " Katie said excitedly, bouncing on her toes before she spun in a circle to show off the shorter kimono style that the girls wore. She was positively beaming up at K, which was more than enough for K to miss the look Moshii gave Logan over her shoulder.

It was more than just an accusatory glance, as well. And once he'd taken the time to tell all three of the little girls how lovely they were, he stepped aside to have a word with Moshii in soft Japanese so that none of the others would understand what was going on between them.

In fact, the only part any of them caught was the way they were addressing each other …  _Moshi-san_ and  _Logan-san_ … everything else was simply too foreign and too quick to catch. And when it was finally over, Moshii gave him a subdued sort of smile before she turned to the children and finally K. With every new face in her focus, Moshii's expression warmed up, and when she finally tipped her head at K, she simply headed into the kitchen.

K was curious - though she was pretty sure she  _knew_ what the little matchmaker was insinuating … though for the first time, K found herself with the slightest smile at Moshii's thought process. She didn't mind the idea of being with him … it was easy, and as evidenced by the fact that he'd already tried to shift the kids curiosity to other things, it was obvious he was trying to shield her from any pressure.

Of course, that … hadn't factored in  _Katie._

"What's she sayin'?" Katie asked - loudly. "Did she catch you kissin' my  _mom_?" She had her hands on her hips - and behind her, Kurt covered his eyes with one hand - trying hard not to laugh at the situation.

"That's not what it was about," Logan said gently.

"I think it was," Kitty said, surprising all of them. "I learned a little bit when I was here with my Dad, and Moshii wasn't real happy with K last time." Kitty turned to K. "But she seems a lot happier to see you now."

K bit her lip and looked over to Logan, pausing for just a moment before she started to take a few steps his way. "And you're sure it's not because I was kissing you?" K asked, stopping just in front of him, one eyebrow arched up.

"Doesn't really matter does it?" Logan asked before K reached up and removed the little smudge of lipstick on his bottom lip. "Alright. Maybe a little."

He was smirking at her, but since he was busted anyhow, he simply dove into it, stealing a long kiss that was only interrupted when Moshii invited the kids into the kitchen to 'help'.

* * *

The little excursion to Japan went a bit over what they'd planned - which was a shock to absolutely no one. And of course, the girls had  _insisted_ on wearing their kimonos home so they could show them off to their friends, which helped immensely when they came rushing in all giggles and grins to where Jean was waiting - and absolutely stricken by how adorable the three of them were together.

"You all look  _amazing_ ," Jean gushed, which of course had the girls strutting that much more.

"We sure do!" Jubilee said, grinning even wider.

"And Moshii got me and my mom  _purple_ ones so we match!" Katie sang out, running over to Jean to hug her. "See?  _See_?"

"Oh, you've got to have purple," Jean agreed, unable to stop her smile.

"Why don't you girls go show Storm your outfits," Logan suggested.

"Okay! We should put on a goddess fashion show!" Kitty agreed with a grin - and that was enough to get all three of the girls giggling and racing each other down the halls all over again.

Jean smiled as she watched them head out and then turned toward Logan and K. "Looks like you all had fun."

"Didn't hurt," Logan replied. "You look like the cat that caught the canary though."

"Oh, well, things haven't exactly been quiet here either," Jean said with a smile.

"Spill, Jeannie."

"Easier to show you if you'll let me. It's really something best experienced firsthand," she admitted, smiling even wider.

While Logan smirked, clearly ready to roll with it, K was already making her way out of the room.

"You too," Jean called out to her.

"I don't really like to  _do_ that," K said.

"I swear to you, I'm just going to show you what happened while you were gone. No alterations, no poking around. You're really more in my mind than I am in yours," Jean promised.

K still looked clearly reluctant, but the expression of pure  _teasing_ Logan was wearing was enough to at least get her to consider it. "I hate this. So. Much."

"I know, but … well, you'll see. I don't think you'd believe me if I told you secondhand," Jean said, and then, when K sort of stiffly nodded, she projected the entire conversation between Scott and Charles - which she had of course been eavesdropping on - for both of them to see.

When it was over, K clearly didn't know how to react, and Logan looked more than a little lost.

"I told you you wouldn't believe it secondhand," Jean said after a long silence.

"Scott wasn't supposed to know that stuff," Logan said, looking more serious now that he had a moment to process it.

Jean smiled warmly at him. "And now he does."

"And I didn't know …" Logan let out a breath. "I think maybe I should go back to Japan."

"What? When things are finally  _changing_?" Jean didn't bother to hide her pout. "Logan, come on. You know Scott  _never_ has challenged the professor on anything. You both made a real impact. Please don't throw that out!"

"Listen, I knew the opinion of me was low, but I didn't know it was  _that_ low," Logan said. "Least it explains why Creed's got such a low opinion on everyone here."

Jean shook her head and turned toward K. "Please help me explain to him that his friends  _standing up for him to their heroes_ is a good thing."

"That part blew right over his head," K said.

"And you?" Jean asked, honestly curious.

"I … will believe it when I see it."

"I didn't alter anything, K. You'd know if I was lying to you," Jean said gently.

K gave her a tight sort of smile. "That's not what I meant. I meant I'll believe the  _change_ when I see  _that_." She took a few steps toward Jean. "The memory, I believe. It doesn't have the funny edges of something obviously fake."

"Then you know we are trying to live up to everything we say we stand for."

She nodded at that. "I hope you know I'm not letting him into those files again."

"I would very much appreciate that. It'll give my husband some peace of mind."

"That was the worst of it anyhow," K admitted. "But … I think I'd like to change my clothes. Maybe get a shower before I get a reputation with the kindergarten crowd for going along with the dress up too much."

"Alright," Jean said, though it was obvious she was disappointed that her grand reveal hadn't had more, well, grand results.

"Just … give me fifteen minutes," K said. "I know that look. And I can't get out of this thing on my own without wrecking it."

"Alright, but I'm going to assume you decided to run off with him if it takes longer," Jean teased softly.

"Assume away," K called back before she disappeared to catch up to Logan.

The minute she'd gotten into her room, Logan looked up at her as she closed the door. He wasn't teasing or smiling in the least, and when she got within arms reach, he simply pulled her closer and wrapped her up in a long embrace. K didn't need to ask what was going on, and like he'd done for her so many times already, she simply held onto him until he decided to break the moment by gently pulling at the delicately knotted obi at her back.

She couldn't help it when her lips curved into a smile a moment before he kissed her behind her ear, but … she knew she only had one real chance to bring up things like she'd promised Jean she would do. And honestly, Scott as well - though technically she  _had_ followed through on talking to Scott.

"Hey," she said, leaning back into his arms since it was clear he wasn't letting her get too far away from him. "I need to explain myself."

"I doubt that highly," Logan replied before he gently took her hand and spun her so he could more easily untie the obi.

"No, really," K said, holding onto the front of the obi as the knots let it fall loose. "I gave Scott the reports that Charles kept in the safe in his study. I'm the one that tipped him off - and I did it becuase he didn't understand why you hated him."

Logan stopped cold. "I dont' hate him."

"Well he still doesn't believe that."

Logan let out a huff and K waited, unwilling to distract him by continuing to untie the ropes that kept the kimono in place. She did, however start to fold the long silk that he'd taken from her waist. She never took her eyes off of him as she folded the obi. But when at long last, Logan only let out a breath and looked over to her, she knew it was time to explain herself.

"Scott and Steve were both putting on pressure for me to pick a side - and both of them were using as many of their teammates as they thought wise to help with their recruitment," K said. "I needed to see more than their buy lines."

"Do you trust  _any_ of us?" Logan asked, almost frowning as he waited for the answer.

"Of course I do," K said, letting her shoulders drop entirely. "In fact, if anything my digging only made it harder. All of you with the  _exception_ of Xavier were speaking nothing but the truth."

"No one was supposed to know about my deal with Charlie," Logan said, holding her gaze.

"Then he shouldn't have written it down," K pointed out as she gently set the obi down on her dresser.

Logan tipped his head at that and looked to his hands as K made her way over to take one of them in both of hers. "Do you know why you joined this team?" she asked.

"I knew I was bein' used in all the wrong ways with Alpha Flight and Department H," Logan replied. "They'd just dropped me on the Hulk to stop him from a rampage, and of course … it's the damn Hulk. Not the easiest guy to stop for a damn army, let alone little ol' me."

K smirked at his self description and a moment or two later he continued. "Things were complicated in Canada. I needed out. And then Charlie shows up … with an offer to work on the right side of things at just the right time …"

"So it was willing, anyhow."

"As willing as it could be. Keep workin' for guys dealin' dirty or work for someone that's tryin' to do the right thing … didn't buy much into his dream at first … but I've seen it work on a small scale," Logan said. "It'd be nice to see it work out for more folks."

K smirked and then caught his gaze for a long moment before she stole a very chaste kiss. "Tell me again how you got a little hope."

Logan gave her a dry look. "Look, I've never had any disillusions on what kinda guy I am or what kind of reason  _anyone'd_ want me on their detail. This was just the option of doin' the same thing for the right reason."

"Which, I understand, but the others didn't know," K said before she let out a sigh. "I won't get into the details on what I personally thought of your feud with Scott, but … you knew he didn't know about this arrangement. Why'd you give him such a hard time."

Logan smirked and shrugged lightly. "Force of habit, I guess," Logan said. "Spent years in the military in one way or another … pretty common for the guys that actually get dirty to have to listen to crap from some snot nosed officer fresh outta the academy. It's a rite of passage for those guys. Take the heat or get the hell into the office where you belong."

K stared at him for a moment and then shook her head with a laugh. "You know he took every bit of it personally."

"Thinned skinned," Logan said with a smirk.

"And he was  _never_ military," K said before she took his face in both of her hands. "As much as he thinks his dad's service counts as a bonus for him - come on."

Logan let out a sigh. "Alright. I'll read his file better."

"Thank you," she said. "I already gave him some of your tells anyhow."

Logan stared at her for a moment with a look of pure betrayal before he simply started pulling at the ropes around her waist. "That … isn't real neutral."

"Guess I'll have to make it up to you somehow."

"You're damn right you will."

"He's protective of you," K said, which was enough to get Logan to stop for just a moment before he continued untying the knot holding up the excess silk.

"If you're gonna keep talking about him, this isn't gonna be any fun for anyone."

"I just needed to point out that all that outrage? It was on  _your_ behalf."

"Would you please just … stop. Talking?" Logan said, staring at her openly, causing K to crack up before she bit her lip and started unbuttoning his flannel shirt.

* * *

By the time the two ferals came back downstairs - freshly cleaned up and in more recognizable clothes, Jean had gotten a long lesson from the kids on how things just  _are_ in Japan. And how much fun they'd had in what amounted to playing house on the beach on one of the southern islands.

But Logan looked a lot more like himself, too. Thoughtful, but not as reactive as when he'd left. When he sat down next to Jean, he made a point to lean over and kiss her cheek. "Thanks, Jeannie. You didn't need to do that."

"What, eavesdrop?" she teased lightly. "That's a first. Aren't you usually telling me to keep it to myself?"

"Yeah, especially when I'm the subject matter." he shook his head at her. "I didn't get why he even went around that way. But I got it. I think."

Jean smiled and rested her chin in one hand - she was holding a sleeping Josh with the other. "Oh?"

Logan frowned at her. "We can just  _leave_ , you know."

"Oh, don't do that," Jean said, pulling a face. "Not when the air is  _finally_ clear. You've both been driving me nuts driving past each other; it's nice to have you on the same page for once!"

Logan glanced over at K, who was perfectly faking deafness. "That's not a reason to keep her around. She made that clear, right?"

"And you should both know that, well, all things considered - we  _want_ K on the team, but no one is going to push. Even Scott is having a hard time with the professor right now."

"No one  _here_ ," Logan said. "Cap wants her on their team, too." He smirked at Jean. "Said he'd bribe her with dancin' if I didn't break his knees for it."

Jean smirked at that before she turned to K. "But what about  _you_?"

"What about me?" K asked. "I already told everyone I'm abstaining for now. Watch how things fall, who actually needs me around and isn't going to be awful… I think that's reasonable enough."

"It is," Jean said. "But I couldn't let you go on thinking that you had no impact on things here. We  _are_ trying to do better. All of us."

K nodded lightly. "Yeah, seems like that's what I do. Knock things loose wherever I go."

"And I'm grateful," Jean told her honestly. "Especially since it means my husband and one of my closest friends at least understand what went wrong."

"Took 'em long enough," K said dryly.

"I know. Men can be such blockheads," Jean laughed lightly.

"Children," K agreed. "We should make them wear a time-out shirt together."

Jean giggled. "It would be a good example for our kids…"

"It'd be a photo-op." K managed to give Jean a little smirk as Logan put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side. "Pretty sure we can make it happen, too."

"Oh yes. We're definitely persuasive enough."

"That's enough of that," Logan growled out softly. "Both of you can knock it off. You'll end up havin' me advocatin' you go work with Cap at this rate."

"You like it," K countered with a little growl of her own that had him smirking ever so slightly. "And you wouldn't dare. Not when Tony's still… halfway … stupid."

"Darlin', if you're waitin' for Tony Stark to quit actin' like a teenager, then I don't even need to try an' sway you. That's never gonna happen." K raised one finger his way, ready to argue the point, but Logan took her hand in his and then kissed her cheek. "I've known him for years, sweetheart. You mighta gotten him payin' attention like a little puppy dog, but at his core, he's still  _Stark_." He smirked. "Which is why you're not still with him."

She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment and it was clear Jean was holding her breath - sure that Logan had crossed a line. She even reached out to him to scold him mentally when K's expression softened. "True enough," K said just before Logan stole a kiss with a laugh and the kids rounded the corner at speed - laughing maniacally and headed for the stairs. Which was a great cover for the door to Charles' office closing as he and his guest left the office.

"I'm sure your argument is compelling," Charles was saying, though both ferals had to listen to hear it. "But … the decision isn't ours to make, Captain Rogers. I don't believe that it ever was."

"At least let me talk to her," Steve said. "She's been here this whole time."

"Actually, she's been out, taking a much needed break," Charles said. "Likely to distance herself from all the bickering. I'm sure that if and when either of us makes a compelling enough offer, then she'll choose. Or, we could respect her wishes and give her the space she's clearly asked for. Repeatedly."

"Clone," K whispered for Logan - loud enough that Jean could hear it and snort behind her hand, projecting her amusement to Scott - not just so he could laugh to but so he could see that Charles had taken things to heart.

It was still a few moments though before the two of them came into view, and when they did, Steve looked more than a little deflated … even if it didn't last long and he quickly put on one of his winning smiles. "Bout time you got back from your trip," he said, though it wasn't clear who it was meant for. Yet. "You ready to lose all your money?"

"Ready to win that frisbee back," Logan countered. "Again. I think it's the right height to stop the wobble on my desk."

"Money where your mouth is," Steve shot back with a more crooked smile.

"You're on," Logan agreed. "Where we meetin' up this time?"

"Well, hey, Teddy's playing with Billy right now, so I'm sticking around anyway. Game room?"

"You got hundred bucks to buy in, Slim?" Logan asked over his shoulder.

Scott looked surprised before he raised both eyebrows over his glasses. "...yes?"

"Great. Better be cash," Logan said before he stole a quick kiss from K and got up to head off with Steve. "Tell Hank he's up, too. He punked out on us last time." They were partway down the hall before Logan called out - sure to clarify for Scott. "Don't wait around, Jeannie. It's gonna take a while to win my frisbee back. Even with Scotty helpin'."

Jean laughed delightedly and waved them off. "Have fun!" she said, even going so far as to give K a little nudge as she couldn't help but project,  _I love this new look. I hope it keeps up._

"He's always like that," K pointed out.

"Not always," Jean said. "Only for his friends. Which is why I'm tickled."

"You guys are really something else, you know that?" K said.

"I hope that's a compliment," Jean said with a smile.

"I'm holding back any conclusions for now," K said. "Little too close to having been on opposite sides to really trust it, if I'm being honest."

"Then at least stay," Jean said. "Give us a chance to be friends." She smiled a little wider. "I honestly think you and I might be good friends, if you can stand to trust a telepath. Anyone who can help Scott like you have? Is a friend of mine."

"He's a good guy," K said.

"That's why I married him," Jean said.

"Oh, and I thought it was because you liked his uniform," K said dryly.

"It… definitely doesn't hurt," Jean said, blushing high on her cheeks.

"I don't want to see this thing go sideways," K told her honestly as she thought back to their time in Japan. "When I know for sure where I stand with Logan, then I'll know if I can give one of the teams a shot. It got too complicated with Tony, too fast." She looked over at Jean with an incredibly sincere expression. "I really did love him, you know. Still a little protective of him, if I'm honest."

"I know," Jean said.

"But why the guys can't understand why I need to  _breathe_ after that ..."

"I think it's because they don't know how to stop competing," Jean admitted. "That… and honestly, everyone cares about you and wants to help - and that somehow made the competition worse because now they're competing  _to_   _help_." She rolled her eyes. "Boys."

"They're idiots trying to be the white knight. Is that what you're saying?" K was shaking her head before she even finished her sentence. "That would explain Tony for  _sure_. Like he's keeping track or something."

"Measuring sticks…" Jean trailed off and giggled.

"Everyone has something," K breathed out before she turned to Jean. "So … while they're being idiots, what are we supposed to do? I doubt that your mentor wants to give it another shot so soon. Not when he went and made a point, anyhow."

"Well, it's been a while since I've really had a girls' night. What say you?"

"Alcohol and shopping?" K asked, one eyebrow raised.

"And we can probably snooker someone into watching the kids…"

"Pretty much anyone," K said. "But … if you call Jan, she and Tony would probably jump on it. I was getting a few texts … asking if we were moving to Japan."

"Then he needs to see his Katie," Jean decided with a smile.

"He does," K agreed. "Dear God, that is so weird."

"I'm sure you'll get used to it," Jean said. "Eventually."

"You take her, I'll get in touch with him - one two punch," K decided, already reaching for her phone to let Tony know that the kids and Katie in particular  _missed_ him and that if he wasn't busy, he could have a few hours with them. All of them.


	65. Wedding Bells

For the next few months, the two teams found a new sort of normal. After spending all that time together, they weren't nearly as separate as they had been before, and they shared team members as needed.

And, of course, there was also the matter of the kids. Even with everyone picking their families, the kids wanted to be around each other all the time, so there were constant trips between New York and Westchester as well as Malibu.

In particular, Tony and K were slowly working out a strange sort of custody with Katie. She spent most of her time with K and Logan, but Tony and Jan stole her away on the weekends - and the holidays were a combined blast of mayhem for  _all_ the kids.

But now that things were starting to feel  _normal_ , Tony wanted to take Jan and  _both_ kids on a trip of his own. And since Peter's school had the week off for Spring Break, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for a cruise. All four of them.

So when he came out with Jan and Peter the weekend before Spring Break, he wasn't surprised to find Logan and K sitting together over breakfast - with half the kids all gathered at their own table and giggling with each other eating their Swedish pancakes and lingonberries that K had made for Kitty's birthday.

"Hey troubles," K said when they stepped into the room. "Plenty over there by the coffee if you want in."

Tony smirked at that and set Peter down so the little guy could rush over to his friends and tell them all about how much fun he'd had at school. "So next week is Spring Break for Peter's school," he said as he sat down with his coffee - and an arm around Jan's shoulders as she leaned against him.

"Same here," Logan replied, though he didn't do more than glance up at him.

"And I'd like to take the whole family out on my boat for the break," Tony said. "Katie included."

K turned toward Katie and called her over. "Tony wants to take you for the week. Sound like fun?"

Katie glanced up at Tony and smiled. "Why you wanna kidnap me?" she asked, one hand on her hip.

"Duh, you're adorable and he wants you around," K said, reaching over to tickle her.

Katie giggled and then snuggled K. "Yeah. Duh!"

Tony smirked at both of them. "We want to go on the yacht for a cruise during spring break. You, me, Jan, and Pete. What do you think?"

Katie bounced slightly. "That sounds fun. Can I go, Mom?" She spun to face K. "Can I  _pleeeeease_?"

"I won't stop you from going with Tony if you want to go," K said. "Ever. Have fun, love you bunches." She pulled Katie over to rub noses with her for the last words.

Katie beamed and hugged K around the neck and then made sure to get Logan too. "Take good care of my mom, okay?"

"You got it, punkin'," Logan promised, smirking crookedly.

"Yay!" She beamed and then leaned over until Tony caught her from falling sideways. "Let's go!"

Tony laughed. "You're not gonna have breakfast first?" he teased.

"Oooh, yes. Kitty's birthday breakfast.  _Then_ Tony cruising," Katie agreed, nodding sagely. "You gotta have some cuz they're  _yummy_."

"Yes ma'am," Tony laughed - and then Jan busted up laughing when the impatient little girl positively tripped over herself to go get some breakfast for both of them.

The little breakfast went on easily enough, and as the group got closer and closer to the kids being  _done_ , Logan leaned over to whisper something incredibly quiet to K. Which was a severe indicator of how secret it had to be since neither of them  _needed_ to whisper to each other to get the point across. At least … they didn't need to whisper  _and_ be that close.

But when K turned toward him with a little frown before glancing at Katie and Peter, then very briefly toward Jan and Tony, it was clear something was  _up._  Logan was smirking crookedly, and not saying another word as K simply held his gaze for a long moment before finally she breathed out one word: "Alright."

By that time, Katie was a little sticky, but she wanted to give her mom a kiss before she went with Tony to pack up her things. "You gonna have fun with Logan?" she asked .

"I think so," K said. "You gonna have fun with Tony and Jan and Petey?"

"Uh-huh." Katie leaned forward to be nose to nose with her. "We're gonna go on the  _ocean_!"

"We'll probably end up in the woods," K said. "But  _my_ woods. With the lake like an ocean."

"Oooh, that sounds pretty!"

"I'll show you this summer," K promised. "When the snow's gone. Which it's not yet."

"Wow." Katie grinned wider. "Okay, well, you should kiss Logan lots because he likes snow. So you should."

"Yes, she should," Logan agreed over K's shoulder.

"Cuz Jan and Tony are gonna kiss lots too," Katie said, drawing herself up and nodding importantly.

"We always kiss lots," Logan said. "Don't worry. I'll take care of all the kisses she can handle."

"Okay," Katie said, then giggled to herself and slipped out of K's lap to rush over and give Kurt a kiss on the cheek. "And you get kisses too!"

Kurt grinned at her, but before she could zip off, he caught her arm with his tail so he could get just enough time to steal a kiss right back. "Have fun!"

Katie giggled delightedly and then rushed off with Jan - who promised to help her pack up all her things, while Tony was grinning at K. "She got that from both of us," he informed her.

"Very very likely," K agreed. "The little imp came that way." She reached over to ruffle Kurt's curls at that. " _Der Weiberheld._ "

Kurt grinned up at her. "She kissed me first," he pointed out.

"Doesn't change matters, does it?" K said before she glanced up at Tony. "Right?"

Tony smirked at that. "Hey, I'm torn between agreeing and feeling like there's got to be some point where I should do my uncle duty and chase boys off," he teased.

"Well .. you know how that works," K reasoned. "If she kissed him first and you try to chase him off … she'll just follow him."

"Already worried about this nonsense," Tony laughed. "As long as he doesn't start carrying rolled up cigarettes and riding a motorcycle…"

"Oh, he's gettin' a motorcycle," Logan chimed in, still smirking to himself and looking entirely too smug to be legal.

"Well, I'll warm up my 'intentions' speech for the next ten years," Tony joked, though he was also looking perfectly pleased with himself.

'Oh, man. You're both full of it today," K laughed. "Stop that. One at a time."

"No way," Logan rumbled.

"Can't stop," Tony said, grinning widely. "I'm taking my girls and my son on a trip to remember."

K smirked up at him, though Logan refused to elaborate to Tony the reason for his good mood. "Enjoy it. I'm sure you'll all have a blast."

"Yeah. It'll be good," Tony said, getting to his feet when he saw Jan and Katie headed back down, holding hands and skipping.

"Jeep won't be workin' when you get back," Logan called out to Jan. "So don't come back with a reason."

Jan laughed at him. "I haven't needed a trip like that in months now, but I'm glad to know if Tony is ever  _stupid_ , I still have the option."

"Never gonna happen," Tony said, pulling his arm around Jan a little tighter.

Logan gave Jan a little wink as Katie made her final rounds and simply grinned at the little group as they left before he turned to K and stole a long kiss. "So. Your place or mine?"

"Yours. This time," K said. "And only because I know Scott already knows where your place is, and I don't wanna share yet."

"Then let's get movin'. I'll get the two of 'em together." He paused. "You sure about the one?"

"Don't push me," K warned in a growl. "I'm picking out of your circle of influence. That's who I have that I trust that's old enough to be legal."

"Got it," Logan replied as he got up and started toward the door. "I'll get my guy. You let me know when you're ready to go. They'll show up when we ask 'em to."

* * *

Scott was in his office when the call came in from Logan, though he wasn't grading papers and hadn't been for a long time, because Jean was so tickled with all the happiness going on around the mansion with Kitty's birthday and Tony and Jan's trip and everything else. And when Jean was in a good mood, that usually meant they'd both end up curled up together…

That is, until Scott saw what Logan had sent him. The message was clean and to the point in the text.  _I need you to come to these coordinates ASAP._

Scott's eyebrows shot up, but he didn't question it, knowing Logan wouldn't call him in like this for nothing. He grabbed his visor from his desk drawer and went right to the hangar, grabbing one of the minijets and redlining it, sure that something was  _wrong_.

He was surprised, then, to find that there was already a Quinjet there and that Logan and K were just… talking amiably with Matt Murdock, Steve Rogers, and someone Scott had never seen before.

"What… what's going on?" Scott asked, looking between them.

Steve was grinning broadly behind Logan as he waved Scott over. "Just need you to sign a paper," Logan said - and it was clear that Matt was in a great mood by the way he was smiling to himself as he held out the pen.

"I'm - what?"

"Not until after, if you don't mind," the stranger said with a warm smile before he looked between the group of them - and cleared his throat before he started to speak in a more official sounding tone with what sounded suspiciously like a short homily and scripture.

Scott stopped and then turned to Steve, who was grinning. And then, finally, he broke into a disbelieving laugh and came to stand by Steve with a muttered, "Well. Good."

"I'm guessing they didn't warn you either, then?" Steve asked quietly, though that got them a stern glare from Matt.

Scott smirked and shook his head for an answer, though with two people with enhanced hearing getting married just a few feet away, he opted to keep his mouth shut for a while instead.

Still, the ceremony was quick, and the priest moved them all through it seamlessly - and only after the kiss did he wave Scott and Steve forward. "I'm afraid my friend Matthew likes to rush some things."

"It's not just him," Scott assured him.

"Oh, I'm sure," the priest said with a little laugh. "Usually it takes several months to arrange for this. Matthew only told me what was happening after we were in the jet."

"Better than me. I didn't know until I got here."

"I was ready to bring the Avengers," Steve admitted. "So I didn't know until Logan told me to relax and get Matt."

And while the group of them were going back and forth, Logan and K were simply sitting back and watching their friends carry on in the competition of who got the least warning.

"I didn't even know you were  _engaged_ ," Steve said finally, turning to Logan.

"No one asked," Logan replied as if it was the most simple explanation in the world.

"Who the hell randomly asks couples if they're engaged or not?" Scott said. "Especially you two when K made it clear she wasn't interested in that path with Tony!"

"Makes it easier to fly under the radar," K said. "And just because I didn't want to go this route with Tony doesn't mean I didn't consider it at all."

Scott shook his head. "No, that's not what I meant," he said. "I'm saying no one was going to bring it up and scare you off so how-" He turned back to Logan. "-the  _hell_  are we going to know to ask?"

"If you gotta know, she said yes a few months back." Logan couldn't help but laugh at him. "I thought the point was to keep it quiet. Least until it's not." He gestured around them. "Not like we'd have gone the more traditional route anyhow."

"Public speaking," K said, making a face. "Eew." She made her way over to Scott and rested her hand on his wrist - still not wanting to push anyone's boundaries. Especially after pulling a stunt like this. "Thank you, by the way. You were my one pick."

Scott let out all his breath in a whoosh and then smirked quietly before he pulled her into a hug that spun her off her feet. "Welcome to the family," he said when he set her down. "If I'd known, I'd have brought something to send you off."

"You did," K said. "You brought your own lil' self and made it legal. That's good enough."

"Still. When it was me and Jean, I wanted to tell the world. At least I'd like to celebrate with you."

"We will," Logan said. "Just wanted to keep the ceremony small. With my track record - and hers - it's just smarter."

"Yeah, I get it," Scott said before he clapped Logan on the shoulder. "And congratulations."

"We'll be back by the time classes start," Logan promised. "Thanks for coverin'."

"Treat her right," Scott said with a smirk. "I feel like that's my official job to tell you."

"Oh yeah," Logan agreed, nodding seriously. "Pretty sure she'd let me know if I take a misstep."

Scott smiled a little more at that before he took a step back. "Well, I won't be responsible for cutting into your honeymoon time," he said, gesturing for the jet. "Have fun."

Logan couldn't help but laugh a little at that, though before Scott could turn all the way to head back to the jet, Steve went the other way and snatched Logan off the ground in a bear hug -  _berating_ his old friend for a moment - which was the last bit of amusement Scott got before the group loaded up to head back. Though that left him in the unique position of being the only person in Westchester to  _know_ what had gone on.

When he got back, he was still in such a good mood that he had to sweep Sam up and set him on his shoulders as he headed to go find Jean, stealing a kiss once he did so. "Hey, Mrs. Summers. How's your break so far?"

"Clearly not as good as yours, Mr. Summers," she shot back, though from her tone it was clear she wasn't exactly  _happy_. "What was the emergency?"

"No emergency," Scott said. "But definitely worth the time."

She gave him a disbelieving look. "Are you really going to try and  _not_ tell me?"

Scott grinned even wider. "What? You mean you don't already  _know_? I didn't think I was being quiet about it."

"I want to  _hear_ about it, Scott!"

He grinned and stole a kiss. "I stood up for K, Captain Rogers stood up for Logan, and I don't think I've seen either of them that  _happy_ since I met them," he said, then grinned up at Sam. "Your mom's going to want to throw a party, Sam. You guys want to help?"

"I was already going to throw a party," Jean said. "But now … it's just … going to be more focused."

"I can help," Sam promised, grinning at both of them, even if he wasn't sure what the story was.

"Of course you can," Jean said. "And that would explain why Ororo has Kitty and Jubilee, too. Though she's going to skin him when she hears what he did."

"I won't stand in her way," Scott teased. "And Katie is with Tony and Jan…" His grin turned a bit more crooked.  _We should follow their lead. Next break, I'm stealing you away and we're not coming back until we have good news to share too._

 _I'm in favor,_ Jean projected back, though it was almost breathless sounding for the pure tone of joy Scott was projecting. "I wonder if this means she'll reconsider our team …"

"I certainly hope so," Scott said. "She's part of the family now."

Jean shook her head and then pulled Scott a little closer for a longer kiss. "I think she was already."

"Well, yeah," Scott said and kissed her again.

* * *

"I need your help, kiddo," Tony said with perfect seriousness as he crouched down to talk to Katie and Peter.

Both of the kids were slightly sunburned across their noses and bouncing on a bit of a sugar high as they nodded at the same time. "What're we doing?" Peter asked.

"Well …" Tony held his breath for a moment. "We've got this island to ourselves, and tonight I thought we'd do a little fire on the beach … but … before dinner, we're going to give Jan a very special present. And that's where you two come in."

"Are you gonna give her a teddy bear?" Katie asked, her eyes wide.

"No," Tony said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a little jewelry box and handed it to Katie. "I'm going to give her this." He tipped his head. "Or … you are, technically. It's a little misdirection."

Katie giggled as she held onto the box. "I like helping!" she declared, though Peter was faster and swiped the box to look inside… and immediately started a little celebration on the spot.

"I knew it! I knew it! I  _kneeeeeeew_ it!" he said, running in a small circle until Katie was able to grab the box back.

"Hey, hey, hey, keep it down, big guy," Tony said, frowning at him. "It's gotta be a secret if we're going to do this right."

"Yeah, Petey," Katie said, one hand on her hip. "Shush!"

Peter grinned and then rushed over to Tony to hug him. "I'm really glad you're gonna make her part of the family for  _real_ and not just livin' with us for kisses."

"Hey, she's definitely part of the family already," Tony said.

"Yeah, but for real," Peter said. "Like when you adopted me!"

Katie giggled. "Like my mom an' her papers!" she put in.

Tony slowly worked his way into nodding at that, while trying not to make a thing out of it. "Um … hopefully a little better than that, but yes. Something like that."

"Yeah, it's bigger cause she gets to be my  _mom_ ," Peter said, bouncing in place. "I get Jan for a mom!"

"You got a really good mom," Katie agreed, rushing over to hug Peter.

"Alright then," Tony said, clapping his hands together. "Lets get to work. Jan'll be here … in a few hours once she's done with the spa, and we …" He gestured to a pile of buckets and shovels. "Have to build a sandcastle to bury some treasure in."

Katie and Peter, of course, both thought this was the best possible thing, and they set to work with  _abandon_ , both of them taking their part in the whole thing  _very_ seriously and trying to make the castle "good enough for my new mom," according to Peter.

The three of them were still working hard when Jan came strolling down the beach, relaxed and in a great mood considering how well the trip was going. And watching Tony with the two little ones - and showing them so carefully how to build the spires taller was just the icing on the cake.

She smiled and came over to Tony to kiss his cheek. "You look so good like this," she smiled.

"Dirty on the beach?" Tony teased, nodding his head. "Yeah, I can see it."

"Just being  _you_ ," she said, stealing a better kiss before she sat down with them. "You guys having fun?" she teased the kids, who both nodded enthusiastically.

"Want to help?" Peter asked, wide eyed and almost holding his breath.

"Sure thing. Can I build the drawbridge?" Jan asked. "Or dig the moat?"

"No moat!" Peter said, holding both hands out. "No moats! Just … I mean .. drawbridge sounds good. Yeah. Drawbridge."

Katie giggled and tossed some sand at Peter. "You're silly," she said. "Aunt Jan can help me make the princess tower!"

"Ooh, gotta have a princess tower," Jan agreed with a laugh.

"If you want a tower, you'll probably need to re-build the bottom stronger first," Tony pointed out, which had Peter grinning crookedly and nodding along - and Katie too.

Jan smirked between them. "You three are up to something," she said. "I don't know what, but I'll figure it out."

Tony gave her his best serious face and pulled Katie over to him. "Are we up to something?" he asked in a stage whisper over her shoulder.

"Always," Katie said. "That's the best way to do stuff. My Kurt says so!"

Tony shrugged at that. "Been listening to her mom too much, apparently."

"Oh, like you're not the same way," Jan teased and stole another kiss.

"I resemble that remark."

"You sure do," Jan laughed.

"C'mon mo- Jan!" Peter said, turning bright red. "You - you gotta help with the castle!"

Jan smiled  _widely_ when she heard it, sure that Peter had slipped and revealed how he was coming to think of her, so she made sure to reach over and pull him into a snuggle. "How about I help you with your tickle skills?" she teased before she started to tickle him until he was giggling too hard and they had to pause to breathe.

"Wait! Wait! We gotta finish the castle!" Peter said, trying hard to get back on track.

"Oh, okay, but we have to snuggle later," Jan said, looking dramatically put out and getting a giggle out of Katie for her drama.

"You're ridiculous," Peter said before he pushed a little shovel into Jan's hands, but that had Katie giggling more behind her hands.

Jan shook her head as she started to help the kids dig - though she was sure something was up when Peter kept leaning closer to her and Katie was giggling when she would dig in the right direction - until she saw something in the sand and smiled at them both. "Buried treasure?"

"Uh-huh!" Katie giggled. "We buried it for you! We're pirates! Like my Kurt!"

Tony was biting his lip as he watched her with Katie on his knee, still excited and giggling. "Go ahead, take a look," he suggested. "And when you get a good look and take a second to think it over, you can tell me if you're up to a dance or two at our wedding."

Jan was smiling the whole time, but when he got to the word 'wedding', she froze for just a second before she tackled Tony back into the sand and kissed him - without even opening the box. "Yes! Absolutely!"

"Sure you don't want to look first?" Tony teased. "Could be a sand flea in there."

Jan shook her head at him and then tossed her hair, flipped open the box, grinned at the  _gorgeous_ ring in there, and then went right back to kissing Tony. "Nope, not a sand flea," she informed him between kisses.

"Oh good, I was worried for a minute there," Tony said before he wrapped her up and pulled her tight while Peter and Katie celebrated by dancing around their half-busted sand castle.

* * *

Eventually, Jan and Tony came back from their trip with the kids - all four of them tanned and grinning and clearly still riding the high of excitement.

They hadn't been expecting to come back to Westchester to drop Katie off… and find that there was already a party in full swing, with both teams' rosters present to keep things lively.

Jan and Tony shared a look, and then Jan giggled. "Oooh, I bet Jean peeked," she said. "She must have known you were going to propose."

Tony smirked at that and pulled her a little tighter around the waist for a kiss. "Well, we'll pretend to be surprised anyway," he said, getting a laugh out of her.

The four of them let themselves in… and were further surprised when there was no resounding welcome. In fact, everyone seemed to still be gathered in the living room… around Logan and K.

Tony was the one to spot the rings first, and he couldn't help that he stopped in the doorway. Sure, he had moved on, but still… it had been marriage and kids that had broken him and K up, so to come back to find out she'd eloped while he'd had Katie? That was absolutely  _not_ on the list of things he expected to see when he came back.

Thankfully, the kids were more than enough to cover for Tony's momentary lapse in his usual suave act, because they came rushing up to join the celebration, bouncing around happily and chanting "guess what!" over and over again - completely oblivious to the fact that the party had been for Logan and K up until that point.

K was smirking as she picked Katie up - since Katie kept holding her hands up for just that. "What's up?" she asked - though Tony had to wonder if she already knew, considering her smirk in their direction.

"Jan's gonna be Pete's mom for  _real_!" Katie declared, throwing her hands up in the air for dramatic effect.

"Oh, I'm not at all surprised," K said before she kissed Katie's temple. "They're in  _love_ after all. They  _should_ get married, and I'm pretty sure she's going to be the prettiest bride  _ever._ "

"Uh-huh! And me an' Pete are being the flower girl and the ringbearer. Tony  _said_!"

"That part goes without saying." K gave Katie another kiss and then looked up at Tony. "Congratulations. I had a feeling that's what you were up to. And It's about damn time, you two. How long have you been dancing?"

Tony finally recovered enough to shake his head with a small smirk. "Too long, apparently. We got beat out." He gestured toward her left hand. "I thought you didn't want the picket fence…?"

"Do you really see  _him_ doing the picket fence thing?" K asked. "Because I don't." She shrugged lightly as she set Katie down. "At least not in a way that feels … immediate. He's got time to kill, and if it takes me fifteen years, he won't be getting to a point where it's hard to keep up. And … it's  _different_."

"Yeah." Tony nodded, his smile finally catching up. "I know. I just wasn't expecting it. But I guess that's the whole point of eloping…"

"Well … and with the people that would like both of our heads, it's really the only way to go." She gave him a little smile in return. "And really. You look  _much_ happier lately."

"Well, I've got my picket fence," he said, the smile turning into something a little more teasing.

"Just what you wanted," K agreed. "It suits you." She popped up to kiss his cheek. "And I never would have been able to pull it off."

Katie giggled at that. "Mo-o-o-om, go kiss  _Logan_. Tony's gonna marry Jan, silly!"

"I kiss all the good looking ones on the  _cheek_ ," K defended. "And you should go give Logan a kiss too. Did he tell you what we did while you were out on the ocean?"

Katie shook her head. "No, we just got home and I didn't get to tell him 'bout how I helped my Tony give his Jan a ring!"

"Well … let's go. I think I'd like to hear that story," K said before she turned to Tony and Jan. "I'm sure the retelling will be worth it. Come on."

"They really did run the whole thing," Jan said with a fond smile.

"Pete almost gave it away!" Katie said severely.

Peter, who was tugging on Logan's sleeve to get his attention, stuck his tongue out Katie's way for that. But when Logan turned his way, he took a deep breath and let all the words tumble out at once so he could beat everyone else to telling the story: "Tony'sgonnamarryJanandwehelpedhimbuildasandcastletodoit!"

For just an instant, Logan blinked at him - the story was so much like the rundown of a dozen questions at once when they first met, it was almost laughable. "Petey, what did I tell you about slowin' down to breathe?"

"But Katie was gonna tell you and I wanted to tell you first!"

"Alright. Can you try again puttin' spaces between the words?" Logan teased. "Now that you told me once anyhow. Should be easier." Logan had his left hand on Peter's shoulder and he was watching out of the corner of his eye to see how long it would take Katie to catch on - or if she'd need it spelled out for her, too.

"Okay, well…" Peter took a deep breath. "Tony said he wanted to marry Jan and asked if we would help, right? So we made a sand castle and buried the buried treasure so Jan could find it and then she kissed him a lot and said that she'd be my mom and everything!"

Logan smirked up at Jan from where he was crouched down with the kids - and had pulled Katie over into a little hug. "Sounds just about perfect. Congrats to all of you."

"Did you tell her yet?" Kurt asked just before he dropped down from the ceiling, somersaulting on the way down.

"Nah," Logan said, standing up and watching Kurt as he grinned wider at Katie. "They were late to the party with good news of their own. Let 'em enjoy themselves."

"My Jan says you're never late to a party. Parties start when you walk in," Katie said, nodding fervently.

"Well, we were late to kick it off," Kurt said. "It was a surprise party after all." He leaned toward Katie. "For your  _mom_ and dad."

Katie glanced up at her mom, one eye closed as she worked it out. "Is it your birthday, Mom?" she guessed at last.

"Nope," K said as she crouched down and offered Katie her open hand - palm up. "Wanna guess again or do you want Logan to tell you?"

Katie paused, then giggled when she saw the ring. "You gonna get married?"

"Nope," K said, shaking her head slowly. "Cause we already did. Didn't want to make a big deal out of it … but you see how well that worked when Scott-Cyclops came home and told everyone, right?"

"We were engaged for a while," Logan said quietly to Jan, his arms crossed as he watched Katie process. "Just had to catch her right, timingwise."

Katie blinked between the two of them before she let out a little giggle and threw her arms around K's neck. "Congratulations!" she sang out. "You got a cool Mr. You!"

"And you got an official dad, too. so… when we get some time, I'm gonna take you up to  _our_ cottage," K said. "I had to show it to Logan, you know."

"Oooh, well, if it's  _our_ cottage, then we gotta go there so that I can get a 'you got a dad' party," Katie said with a crooked grin. "I need parties, Mom."

"We made sure your bed is purple and waiting for you," Logan told her. "At the cottage."

"And there's a baby squirrel that's playing by the upstairs window - so … you'll have to make friends," K told her.

"Okay. Can Kurt come?"

"If he wants to," K agreed before she stole a little peek at Kurt. "We  _did_ set up a room for him, too."

Kurt grinned widely at that. "I want to come."

" _After_ we have a party for my Tony and my Jan," Katie said seriously.

"Yes, because I need to show off my ring, right, Katie?" Jan said, giving Katie a big, theatrical wink. "Even if we got totally  _upstaged_ ," she sniffed Logan's way.

"You can blame Jean and Scott for that," Logan said, frowning at her. "If I'd thought he'd have come home runnin' off about it …"

"You still would have known because Wanda was my second pick, and we all know she can't keep a secret to save her life," K finished. "It wasn't any attempt to upstage. We wanted to keep it on the down low."

Jan rolled her eyes but came over to hug Logan anyway. "Well, congratulations. Now shower me with affection and congratulations back!"

"All outta that," Logan said as he picked her up off the ground in a bear hug. "But I can give you  _whiskey_ and congratulations."

"Yay! My favorite," she teased, even giving him a little kiss on the cheek. "Come on; let's show 'em all how it's done."

"If you insist," Logan said. "Who'm I to say no to the future ?" He was smirking crookedly as she giggled in pure delight - just before he pulled her along to break out the whiskey.

"Is that only open to the ladies, then?" Tony asked over K's shoulder. "Or do I need to learn new etiquette to share a drink with the new Mrs. Wolverine?"

K turned and took his arm to pull him along, though he wasn't making it hard on her, either. "It's Howlett now, actually," K said. "And I think you do just fine, Mr. Stark. I see no reason we can't have a drink with our sweethearts."

"It's a little overdue," Tony said.

"It really is," she agreed - and for the first time since K had more or less pulled the rug out from under Tony, things at least  _felt_ more on an even keel, which was a relief to both of them. Finding Jan and Logan already sharing a shot though - well. That just showed that they were both down by one when they got to the bar. 


	66. No Pressure

 

* * *

The party had lasted well into the night as the two teams celebrated some of their best among them stepping into matrimony. For Tony and Jan, it was of  _course,_ a preliminary party ahead of their official announcement that would herald all kinds of press and speculation for  _months_ , which … had Tony at least wondering how much they could get away with if they  _didn't_ announce the engagement publicly.

"It'll never work out," Tony said, shaking his head. "Someone will leak. They always do."

"I know … but … we can handle it," Jan promised as she popped up on her toes to kiss his cheek. "And we'll blow their doors off."

"That was always going to be the case," Tony said with a smirk before he pulled her over into a much longer kiss that had Peter groaning before he simply started pushing for the two of them to get  _moving._

But the party wasn't all celebrations. After K and Logan got a solid talking to … over and over from all their friends about how horrible it was that they'd kept their new marriage a secret from the teams that would have  _loved_ to have witnessed it, they found themselves saying goodbye to the Avengers that had shown up. Of course, it had all been fun and a lot of accusatory teasing on why they'd  _snuck out_ like teenagers  _hiding_ something. Particularly from Wanda and Vision.

And where Wanda had been ridiculous in giving K a hard time for  _ditching her_ while she snuck off to make Erik roll over in his grave - which had both K and Logan grinning and laughing outright - it was Vision's quiet gaze that got the first tinge of regret out of K.

"Viz," K said when she got a moment to pull away from from Logan. "Please don't learn how to do a heart wrenching guilt trip  _now_."

He smiled almost sadly before he took her hands in his. "My dearest sister, I simply thought that you'd have wanted family around you. I don't know exactly what is considered protocol at this point. Were you coerced? I have trouble believing that Wolverine could trick you into this … even with the help of Mr. Summers and Captain Rogers."

"Oh, and Matt Murdock," K said, though she really felt worse about not having Vision there over all the others that had given her a hard time. "He was doing the lawyer thing. I don't even really know him."

"Of course, they had to be sure to make it legal."

"Heroes," K said. "Whatchagonnado?"

"I could vaporize them," he suggested, but that only had K stepping in to wrap him up in a tight hug that she was in no hurry to rush out of.

"I love you too," she said. "I just … I -"

"You were swept up in the moment," Vision said, smiling to himself, though he hadn't let her go. "As you so often find yourself. Yet, this time, you seem much more relaxed. More confident in your decision."

"It just feels right," K explained quietly, which had him smiling wider still.

"As odd as it may seem, I know exactly what it is you're speaking of. And I wholeheartedly approve. As long as it brings you happiness, then I wish you and your new husband nothing but the best." Vision leaned forward slightly and smiled at K. "Though if you find yourself in a position to need babysitting services, then I hope that you'll come to me first."

"No better choice," K agreed, which earned herself as wide of a smile as she'd seen from him just before he finally let her go and turned to Logan with a perfectly straight expression on his face as he rested his hand on Logan's shoulder.

"I'm sure you are well aware that there are consequences should you cause my sister any undue misery," Vision said in a perfectly businesslike tone. Logan looked up at him with an expression of clear confusion for a moment, especially when Vision continued on. "Of course, I would certainly hate to be the one to cause her to become a widow, but …"

"I'll still be kickin' when your battery's dead," Logan said with a frown, then looked over to K. "Did he  _really_ just …"

"We adopted each other," K said. "You knew that."

"Come on," Wanda said, pulling on Vision's hand. "The boys need to go to bed, and so do we." She was smirking at him, and it didn't take Vision any time at all before he was following her lead.

Which left Logan and K alone. Or … they thought they were. The two of them had taken the chance to make the most of the quiet room and had just gotten involved in a less than appropriate kiss when Charles cleared his throat.

"I'm afraid I have no means to get around you without interrupting," Charles said, breaking the moment up. "But … I do hope that we could have a word when you have a moment." He smiled at Logan in particular. "And seeing as you've made up your mind about Logan … I think the time has come for us to chat."

K drew in a breath as Logan squeezed her hand. "I suppose it is," she agreed.

"Tomorrow, Charlie," Logan said before he simply pulled K along with him.

"Welcome home," Charles replied. "And congratulations to both of you."

* * *

"What do you think?" Jan said quietly as she and Tony settled in. Peter had fallen asleep on the way home, and had slept all the way through Tony carrying him up and putting him in bed. "Are you okay? I mean .. you look okay. And there was plenty of drinking and merrymaking."

"Yeah," Tony said, though he was frowning slightly. "I'm great."

"Alright, but there's great and then there's actually great ... "

"It just … all kind of feels like everything's turning out the way it  _should_ , you know?" he said, which honestly set Jan back a little.

She'd been so used to him borderline  _pining_ for so long every time that K did something that even halfway resembled commitment with Logan … Well. this was just a big improvement. "Totally," she agreed, almost wide-eyed, but that really only illustrated how tickled she was when she had no further commentary on the matter.

* * *

"You really do have a knack for upending the norm, don't you?" Charles asked when he finally got Logan and K to join him for a long overdue chat. "So I'm sure you'll understand why I feel the need to ask if you're intending on disappearing with one of my team members."

"I'm not goin' anywhere, Charlie," Logan said. "Thought I made that clear."

"Yes, well you can't blame me for being concerned," Charles said. "I doubt your teammates had any idea how deeply you two were involved before you came back married."

"If they'd paid any damn attention, they had a pretty good idea," Logan said.

Charles let out a breath at that. "You know, I usually only concern myself when the telepaths refuse to speak …"

"Since when?" K asked, her head tipped slightly as she gave him her best, most innocent expression.

Charles let out a sigh at that, obviously irritated with her already, but before they could really delve into things, Scott knocked on the door and stepped in to join them with a cup of coffee in his hand. "I didn't realize you were starting up so quickly," Scott said. "Or I would have been here sooner." He gave Charles a little, almost unreadable look. "I told you I wanted to be in on this, Professor. Especially if you're talking about  _my_ team."

"Of course, Scott, I thought you were busy with personal matters-"

"And you know that Jean will understand if I take a moment today." He looked over at K, who had her focus on her hands for the time being, looking very much like she wanted to be anywhere but there, and with Charles almost lying through his teeth, Scott had to wonder how much of that was purposeful.  _If it's about the team, these discussions can't happen without my being a part of it anymore. We agreed to that, professor._

 _Old habits, I suppose. I apologize,_  Charles said.

Scott paused, and Charles realized at once that he wasn't convinced - and the simple fact that his first and most precious student didn't  _trust_ him at the moment was a blow. For an instant, he couldn't help but glance over at K, though he realized his own mental track and stopped himself from allowing himself to place blame on her for Scott's distrust.

"I meant what I said before," Scott said, ignoring Charles and sitting away from both the newlyweds and Charles, though he was facing K and Logan. "I'd like if you joined the team, K. And not just because you two are married now and I don't want to see you both go."

Logan stopped at that, and before he could say or do anything to wreck the moment, K gave his hand a little squeeze, knowing that even the tiny admission was a big step for Scott to take. But by holding his tongue and not making a move more than to squeeze K's hand in return, it was clear to her that Logan understood how big of a deal it was.

K turned to look at Logan as Scott cleared his throat and told her what would need to be done if she chose to join up. "I know you don't want to do it, but I'd need to do an evaluation. Now, knowing what you've been through, I'm willing to make it a closed doors, non-recorded evaluation so I know where to put you in the team. I'm also hoping for more integrated practices than you've been doing when both teams are running concurrently. I know you can do more than what you've shown us, and I understand why you don't want to show it all, but K - on my life, none of us here want to harm you."

K ignored Charles for the time being and kept her focus on Scott, who she knew was telling the truth. And had it been anyone else - or if Scott hadn't been watching her and obviously holding his breath waiting for her response, she would have still told them to stuff it. But before she could get a word out, Charles broke into all of their thoughts.

"I'd like to apologize," Charles said, which of course, K was almost expecting … but she did not expect how he continued. "Logan. Scott. I should have been honest with both of you from the beginning. I held you both to entirely different standards, and though I always intended to keep Logan as a deterrent and ….  _Nuclear option_..." He paused as he turned to Scott, who was carefully holding his breath and listening intently. "... I never should have expected you to operate under that light. Logan, I don't want you to ever think that you're expendable to this  _family._ It's more than just a team, and I sincerely hope that you'll choose to keep your family here with us."

Charles turned to Scott. "As always, I'm here if you should want my opinion. Though, I'm sure there will be times when I need to warn you further than I have."

Scott smirked and turned back to K. "So. What do you say?"

"Well," K said, looking between the three of them for a moment. "I'll stay where my husband is, of course."

Logan was smirking at her crookedly - since clearly he'd known what she was going to say from the beginning, and Scott let out a breath of a laugh. "Old fashioned then," Scott said.

"For things to do with marriage? Mostly," K agreed as Logan took her hand. "And … I don't want to make him change anything. So, I guess …" she turned to hold Logan's gaze for a long moment. "Give me a little time to get used to being a part of this group, and then we can do your evaluation."

Scott grinned at that. "Welcome to the family, K. We're glad to have you and Katie be a part of it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for the main body of this story ... keep your eyes opened for a big. Fat. Juicy Epilogue.


	67. EPILOGUE

**Epilogue**

* * *

 

Ten years of growing up with heroes for parents meant that all of the kids - Peter, Kurt, Jubilee, Kitty, Katie, Billy, Tommy, Teddy, all the Guthries, etc - wanted to be heroes when they grew up, too. So once they started hitting their teenage years, that's what happened: a whole rush of junior X-Men who were so deep in Charles' Dream they practically bled peaceful coexistence.

That kept the senior X-Men busy in a whole new way. When they were kids, they were getting into trouble that meant scraped knees and pulled hair, but now? The stakes were higher, and their parents were sure to impress upon them what that meant.

And it was somehow easier to get the teenagers in their midst to understand that being an X-Man  _wasn't a game_ and that they could get hurt than it was to navigate the pitfalls of, well, raising teenagers. It helped that all of the kids had seen loss at a young age and had watched their families piece themselves together after not only Erik's rise and fall from power but everything that happened in its aftermath. That had impressed some seriousness on each and every one of them. But the desire to be older, the frenetic crushes and drama… that was something else.

Some of it was easier to deal with than the rest. Billy and Teddy had been in love since the day they met, so no one was surprised when they started actually  _dating_ once they were old enough to understand the concept. Peter  _pining_ for the little blonde girl in his science classes but never getting up the courage to ask her out was tragic and hilarious to Jan and Tony but not terrible to deal with either.

But on the other hand, Kate and Kurt seemed determined to give their parents headaches - especially when Charles was a telepath and Logan and K could scent the kids out and  _knew_ that they both liked each other. So their ridiculous insistence on trying to one-up each other dating other people to make each other jealous? That was starting to grate on everyone.

But even considering all the drama, things around the mansion and at Avengers Tower were relatively quiet. Yes, they still had big fights to contend with. Hydra, the MRD, Skrulls, Kree, Reavers… Those threats were still out there. But unlike before, the X-Men and Avengers weren't separate. Threaten one team and the other would show up to fight, too.

It was a good system. And it was a good way to show the kids a united front, a new way of doing things. A better way.

It also helped the kids to be more fully dyed in the wool of Charles' dream for peaceful coexistence, since they had grown up so completely immersed in heroes from all walks of life working together.

That cooperation did more than just show the kids how to be better heroes than the generation that came before them: it also made for more peace and stability for the senior heroes, and they took advantage of that feeling.

More than that; they  _ran_ with it.

It hadn't taken long, for example, for Scott and Jean to start having kids of their own, and Nate Summers hadn't even been born yet before - after a  _lot_ of Paige's "hints" during ballet - Clint and Natasha finally eloped too.

And after that, the next generation of heroes just kept  _expanding_.

No one was all that surprised when Tony and Jan got pregnant less than a year after they were married - if anything, they all teased the Stark family for taking so  _long_ , considering how obvious it was that both of them were ready for that next step. Nor were they surprised when Jan wanted to start trying again almost immediately, insisting that their dark-haired little boy  _needed_ a little sister.

What was surprising, though, was that Logan and K had their own little one, a boy named James that was Logan's spitting image, before Jan got the little girl she wanted. Sure, Jan had her second son before James was born, so there was plenty of time in between the marriage and the first kid for Logan and K, but still, considering the discussion that had broken K and Tony up…

Well, it was a shock. But  _no one_ was complaining, especially not when James Howlett, Maria Stark,  _and_ Rachel Summers were born within a few months of each other and Jan looked like she was going to die of happiness. Not to mention Jean. Or Scott - who seemed to have a following of toddlers at any given point in time, usually when he needed to get work done.

It was even more entertaining to watch Logan try to slip out to fix his bike when the tiny crowd seemed determined to stop him from doing anything but getting into tickle fights and snuggle piles with them. Except of course, when the bulk of the crowd tumbled back into the mansion and James snuck back out to  _honestly_ help hand his Dad tools.

It was also just as fun to watch K go down to a flying tackle from any given teenager-toddler duo, since the older siblings of the group were  _actively_ encouraging their younger siblings to do so.

That particular morning, Tony and Jan had just gotten in for a weekend visit with their group of kids - just in time to see K redirect the tag-team of Rachel and James from trying to help her make breakfast to trying to break up Tommy and Kate making out in the hallway.

"I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing that," Tony said, even as Maria rushed off to catch up to James to be part of the troublemaking. Even at three years old, the little girl had a crush a mile wide on James, and everyone knew it from the way she  _dotingly_ followed him around.

"Which part?" K asked without missing a beat. "The part where Maria  _obviously_ has excellent taste, the little bit where James is encouraging her, the little  _Summers_ that thinks she's the leader until James walks off to do something else… or the part where our shared daughter clearly learned terrible teenage relationships from  _you_?"

"Me?" Tony laughed and put his hand on his heart and Jan rolled her eyes at both of them. They'd been having the same fake argument ever since Kate had started chasing boys to make Kurt jealous - not that Charles fared any better in that argument with K, since Kurt was just as bad as Kate was. "You must be mistaken. I have  _excellent_ taste. Just look at my wife!"

"Oh, yeah, you have excellent taste  _now_ ," K said, nodding along as Jan muttered a little "that's right he does."

"Hey, the kid is  _your_ nephew. Talk to your brother!" Tony pointed out.

"Viz thinks Tommy has excellent taste," K said with one eyebrow raised and a hand on her hip. "You gonna argue with him when you're the one that made his brain perfect?"

Tony blinked and couldn't help but hold up his hands. "Okay, point, but-"

"They're young and still figuring out dating," Jan said, waving her hand in the air. "I'd be more concerned about what Magneto's grandson does when his heart gets ferociously stomped on once the troublemakers in our midst finally knock it off and start dating  _each other_."

"Too bad he can't levitate. At least we'd get a warning that way," K agreed with a smirk as she finished up what she was working on, loaded up the tray of food. "You two are responsible for the zoo," K warned before she turned and left all the ridiculousness in the kitchen to head upstairs to where she knew she'd find Logan taking care of Natasha.

After all, the Black Widow had just had twins, and she needed the pampering, no matter what she told Logan, K, Clint, and anyone else who would listen.

"I brought food," K called out as she shouldered her way inside - and Clint grinned and jumped to his feet to help her with the tray. Natasha was holding one of the little girls, and Logan had the other, so Clint was the one who was free to help.

"You're a saint, K," he said, kissing her cheek.

"I'm not the one who did all that work," K pointed out, shaking her head at him. " _You_ can get your own. This is for Mom."

At that, Natasha let out a tired laugh that kept going when she saw the betrayed look on Clint's face. "She has you there," she told him.

Clint rolled his eyes at both of them, but he was in too good a mood to argue, so he scooped up the little girl Natasha was holding so Natasha could eat without worrying about balancing a baby. "I'm going to go introduce Lexi to the world. I'll probably never come back. Jean and Jan will kidnap me. Farewell, all."

"You'll be fine," Natasha said dryly.

"Love you too, Nat."

Natasha smirked at that, but she was honestly tired and hungry enough that once Clint was gone, she let it drop in favor of eating and then pretending she wasn't falling asleep until Clint got back - while Logan made sure that Alena was totally asleep and curled up so Natasha wouldn't have to worry about that, either.

Of course, by the time Clint did return - after half the rosters from both teams had taken time to ooh and aah over the tiniest redhead - Natasha was almost asleep anyway. As the little family got settled in, Clint signed a very quick "thank you" to both of them as he set Lexi down and got her situated, and the two Howletts snuck out to leave them in peace.

As always, when given a few moments alone, the two ferals slipped into an empty room for a few stolen kisses before they made their way back to the sounds of the little party going on.

When they got downstairs, half the kid brigade was in the living room with Jan and Tony - who hadn't actually managed to get that far into the house before being mobbed. Jan smiled and waved at both of them. "How're things up in the land of tired redheads?"

"No dead bodies," K said. "So everyone survived the birth, doctors and Hawks included."

"It's a Christmas miracle!" Jan said in mock surprise, holding her hands up by her face with a giggle.

"They're over the moon. And I'm sure you'll get a turn before they're six."

"Eventually," Jan agreed, then gestured to where her boys were playing video games. "I've got plenty of snuggle material on my own, though."

"Thought you were goin' for more," Logan said, smirking at her.

Jan grinned his way and then looked over at Tony. "What do you think? Another girl? Balance things out?"

"Like I'm gonna say no," Tony laughed outright.

"You might!" Jan sang to him, which got him to come over and kiss her so she'd stop being so ridiculous.

As the adults were joking and teasing back and forth, the little ones made their way back from watching the video games since they really didn't get to play the  _bigger_ games like that, but Maria had been watching her parents - and James' since everyone was so snuggled up and stealing kisses … and it seemed like a good idea, so …

She scooted a little closer to James, who just gave her a little smile before she simply leaned over and stole a kiss. Right as Tony and Jan turned their way. Which would have been funny enough even if James didn't react the way he did and wrapped her up in a tight hug and stole another kiss right back.

By that time, Jan was almost falling off the couch laughing, and Tony let out a whoop. "Atta girl. Good taste, too! Go get what you want!"

Maria giggled and grabbed James' hand and started pulling on him to go outside where Bobby was prepping for a snowball fight with the kids  _anyhow._

Jan was still laughing and wiping tears from her eyes as she leaned on Logan, since Tony was still chuckling too hard to give her any support. "Did you see his  _face_?"

"I was busy," Logan said.

Jan giggled even more. "You and I… are in so much trouble with those kids," she said, trying and failing to get her composure. "Heartbreakers! Two of them! Look out world!"

"Don't think it'll be trouble until he's old enough to take the Jeep out," Logan said.

"Lies. I'll let them take my car. Or Tony's limo," Jan said, still tickled.

"Didn't say he had to be sixteen. Or go anywhere but here," Logan pointed out. "Plenty of places to cause trouble here."

"I feel like I have to make some kind of 'stay away from my daughter' speech but I just can't right now," Tony laughed. "She totally gets that from you, Jan."

"You can try the speech," K said. "But if she's like any other self-respecting little girl, that'd just be gas on the fire."

"She gets that from  _you_ ," Jan teased, grinning up at Tony.

"No doubt about it," K agreed. "So … since it's from  _your side_ , I think we'll just leave you two to supervise …"

"Oh, hey, no, did you  _see_ your little boy?" Jan laughed.

"You mean the little guy that just  _ran with it_?" K said. "Yep. I think he got a double dip."

"So it's trouble from both sides," Jan said with a grin. "We're in this together, my friend!"

Logan tipped his head with his nose scrunched up as he started pulling K away from Tony and Jan. "No … she definitely started it."

"Oh, well, on that, we can agree," Jan laughed. "She knows what she wants."

"And she gets her good taste from both of us. Dark-haired little geniuses… have you heard James outdo the older kids talking math? Because I know a good school that helped Peter around that age…." Tony turned actually a bit more serious as he turned K's way.

"We were actually going to have a few brainiacs look him over first. See what level he's at," K said.

"He's already rebuilding parts in the garage, too," Logan said.

"I'm just saying - we did it with Peter too," Tony said. "And I know all the eggheads. I  _am_ a genius, you know. I can totally help. Not like K and I don't know how to co-parent."

"I hadn't heard," K said with a smirk. "You're a  _genius?_  Since when?"

"Since birth," he said without missing a beat.

"I'm not saying  _no,_ sweetheart," K said. "But … figure out a time, see if it works out with the other eggheads. I'm flexible."

"It's a date," Tony promised with a crooked grin.

"But right  _now_ , we're going for a little quiet time. So. Unless there's a kindergarten marriage proposal I need to know about - it's all you," K said as she and Logan headed for the door. It was pretty unusual, after all, for the two of them to get a minute alone, and even with Tony and Jan 'in charge' that wasn't bound to last for too long.

In fact, the two of them had only really gotten settled in, curled up with an old western playing in the background and the lights low before Rachel came in with her shoulders scrunched up to her ears and her hands over her mouth, giggling. "Maria wants to spend the  _night_ ," she said through her giggles.

"So was it Tony or Jan that told you to come up, darlin'?" Logan asked, barely picking his head up from where he had his nose buried in K's hair.

"Jan. She said you gotta say yes 'r' no," she said.

"Tell her yes," Logan said. "She can bunk up with James."

"O-kay, but Tony's not gonna li-i-i-ike it," Rachel said, giggling even harder.

"You can make sure that they just cuddle and kiss," K said.

"Oooh, yes!" Rachel nodded. "I can do that for sure, uh-huh! I can watch out!"

"You can pick the movie, too," Logan said.

Rachel cackled with delight. "I'll go get it!" she said, running out the door and totally tickled with herself and her new responsibilities.

"How long do you think it'll take them to figure it out?" K asked, chuckling to herself from where she was snuggled in.

Logan couldn't even hide the laugh. "Bout six weeks. Give or take."

"Well, they both  _did_ say they wanted more …" K reasoned. "We're just … giving them  _time to catch up._ "

"You're gonna wait until you think they should know on their own, aren't you?" Logan asked, still amused.

"We'll see. If nothing happens, I'll wait until we're ready to tell James. If Jean has another little one on the way in a few weeks, or if Jan gets with it, then I'll say something just to get them thinking about it," K said, nuzzling in a little better.

And just in time for Rachel to come in outright  _glowing_ with a couple movies in her hands with news from the adults.

"Dad's laughing  _really_ hard, but Jan says thank you so I guess that means we get to have fun!" Rachel said, already climbing up to show them her movies.

K pulled her over one-armed and kissed the top of her head as Rachel showed her the movie boxes. "You have wonderful taste, sweetheart. Is your mom bringing popcorn up or is it your dad? I know one of them won't be able to resist making sure you kids are covered."

"Mom is," Rachel giggled. "Dad said he's gonna 'pawn the kids off' on Dr. Blue so's he and Mom can snuggle."

Logan smirked a little harder at that and did his best to hide the chuckle as K started braiding Rachel's hair. "And you're going to supervise Maria and James, right?"

"Gotta watch those Starks," Logan managed. "They're trouble."

"That's what Mom says!" Rachel said, perfectly content and giggling along with the adults even if she didn't quite understand it all.

"I love it when your mom agrees with me and is therefore  _right_ ," K said as she finished the braid and rested the tail of it over Rachel's shoulder.

"That's what Daddy says," Rachel agreed with a giggle. "But then Mom hits him."

"Your mom can be mean," Logan said with a little laugh.

"Nuh-uh," Rachel said. "She's the bestest."

K smirked at that and pulled her over for a bear hug and to tickle her until she was almost squealing laughing. "Where are your troublemakers, little one? They're not kissing anywhere without you making sure they don't cause  _trouble_ are they?"

"Tony said he'd bring 'em up with all the snacks and stuff and Maria's teddy."

"Then you should probably grab your pillow and get started on your pillow fort," K said. "Unless you're planning on snuggling up  _here_."

"I'll get my pillow. You're being snuggly with  _Logan_ ," Rachel said with a troublemaking grin that was so much like her dad that K had to laugh as the little girl rushed off.

"I thought I was always snuggly with you," K said before she reached over to pull a little blanket over.

"She doesn't see it all," Logan said. "Which is good for her."

The little rush of kids followed not long after Rachel came back, dragging her pillow behind her, and Tony just behind them. "I'm pretty sure she won't need her teddy bear if she's cuddling with James," K called out.

"Very funny," Tony said as he set down the snacks that he'd carried up for the kids. "You're not really going to let them carry on, are you?"

"They're in Kindergarten. What are you worried about?" K asked from where she was curled into Logan.

Tony shook his head at that. "I just know how you are. And I'm pretty sure that kind of thing is passed down-"

"And you know how  _you_ are and the combo scares you. Even with puppy love. Come on. Like we'd let them play doctor."

"Probably not," Tony said, smiling crookedly at her until Logan cleared his throat. "So. I'll let you know tomorrow how to get little James started with that school."

"Tony, if you waste one minute worrying about James' schooling when you should be spoiling your wife, we're going to have words," K said.

"They won't be in english," Logan muttered into K's hair.

"Yeah, I'm familiar with how that works, don't worry about us. We know what we're doing." Tony paused. "But hey. When are you two going to get with it for number two?"

Logan turned his head slightly, taking in a deep breath as he hid his face, though the motion was almost inflammatory to K, who calmly and subtly squeezed his knee in warning. "We're not on a schedule," Logan said finally, the smile clear enough in his voice that Tony took pause, his head tipped and his eyes narrowed.

"Right." He turned toward the kids, and already Maria had curled up with James, the two of them under a blanket that nearly covered their heads. Maria was grinning widely as if she couldn't believe her good luck, and James looked as if he was having a pretty good time too.

"You," Tony said before he reached out and tapped James' nose. "Be a gentleman."

"Okay," James replied. "You too."

It was just enough to get both Logan and Tony to burst out laughing before Tony gave Maria one more kiss and skipped out leaving the group to their own devices.

"Couple weeks, huh" K said quietly.

"That's what I'm guessin'," Logan agreed. "We just get to be ahead of 'em enough to irritate Jan at the end."

"Oh good," K said in her most sugar sweet sarcastic tone. "I loved having Jan  _baby me_  for the whole pregnancy last time."

"And she'll love the company," Logan told her softly. "Jeannie too."

"I know. Which is why I'm so relieved to hear they're both looking for more."

"No guarantee it'll work for 'em," he reminded her.

"I know. And if it doesn't they'll be that much worse."

Logan wrapped her up a little tighter and started to pepper her with little kisses to get her to relax into him … at least, he did until the kids started in.

"Oh my GOSH," Rachel called out. "You're settin' an  _example!_  That's what my Daddy says!"

"He's followin' my example," Logan told her, then pulled K into a longer kiss that had Rachel giggling.

"Uh huh, sure is," she said, nodding to herself. "An' I think  _Katie_ is too! Katie an' Tommy sittin' in a tree!"

"You think you can get 'em to stop?" K asked.

"I don't haveta," Rachel told her from behind her hand. "Petey's gonna hit 'em with a squirt gun!"

As if on cue, there was a shrill scream from down the hall followed by Katie letting out a string of curses. "Peter Benjamin Parker! I'm  _so_ gonna get you!"

"Thank God for little Petey," Logan said, pulling K's blanket up so they were that much more wrapped around each other.

"He was definitely one of my favorites," K agreed.

"They're  _all_ your favorites," Rachel said as she climbed up next to them. "That's what  _mom_ says."

"She'd know," K agreed as the little group started up the movie - all of them entertained by the sounds down the hall as Katie hissed out curses and dared Peter to come down off the ceiling.

* * *

**Final Notes:**

**I'll admit, this one was supposed to be shorter, but I couldn't cut it off sooner. To be honest, I just loved the title so much I didn't wanna axe it. lol But ... I also am INVESTED in several stories that have yet to be told with this group in this reality, so ... I'm sure it won't be long before we see something new with this group. Thank you for reading, reviewing, and for continuing to come back!**


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